Pride & Prejudice
by Elorendil
Summary: A Jedi Master finds herself stranded in Chiss space and meets the young Captain Thrawn. Can they overcome her pride and his prejudice, or will they let the Jedi rules of non-attachment and the xenophobia of the Chiss keep them apart? I'm rubbish at writing descriptions, please R&R! Rated T for SciFi violence. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Star Wars is the property of LucasFilm Ltd, not me. I do not own any characters, other than Chiara.

This is only my second fic, please be gentle! Feedback is always very welcome, so please R&R.

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**Chapter 1**

A lone starfighter shot through space, dodging and weaving as if evading some invisible enemy with a series of dare devil stunts. The pilot pulled hard on the stick, causing the fighter to slew hard to port, then dropped into a dive back towards the surface of the planet below.

"So, how do you like it?" A voice crackled in the pilots ear.

"I love it!" She exclaimed. "It handles so smoothly. You've done a great job on the design - I didn't think it was possible to make a fighter that was so maneuverable and that had hyperspace capabilities, at this point. I'm impressed."

"Well, now, that's quite an accomplishment. I think that I can count on one hand the number of times that I have managed to impress the great Chiara Matao."

Chiara laughed, easing back on the stick and heading back towards space, throwing in a few loops. "Well, Dorja, there was that one time at Corellia..."

Dorja's deeper, throaty laugh joined with hers. "Ah, those were the good old days! Now, were you planning on bringing my prototype back any time soon? I do need it back so I can work out the instabilities in the hyperdrive. It's still-" His voice dissolved into a high-pitched squeal. Chiara jerked her head away from the comm speaker, wondering if there was a lingering bug in the comm system that he needed to work out, too. She slapped off the comm in annoyance just as the hairs on the back of her neck started to tingle. Without thinking, she threw the fighter into a dizzying series of evasive maneuvers. Just in time - a pair of laser bolts lanced through space where she had just been. One part of her mind marveled at how responsive the fighter prototype was, even while the other part searched the displays for her attacker.

Her stomach lurched as she saw her assailant on the displays. It was a blue and grey painted Assault Frigate which could belong to only one person. _How did Xanix find me so soon? He's supposed to still be chasing that false trail I laid down in the Elrami system. _But there was no time to spend wondering who had betrayed her. In addition to Xanix's distinctive flagship, two more warships were dropping out of hyperspace just ahead of her. Shields, where were the shields on this thing? Dorja hadn't given her a complete run through of the controls - after all, this was just supposed to be a quick test run to see what she thought of his new fighter design. She slapped a bank of switches on, hoping desperately that she had picked the right ones. Nothing happened. Cursing under her breath, she pushed a green button just as another laser blast sizzled past her canopy. Xanix's ships were still far enough out that they were just taking potshots, but once they got the range, she was going to be bantha fodder.

Chiara twisted a nob on her left and was finally rewarded with a beep and a shield indicator appeared on the displays. She tried the comm next, simultaneously pulling hard on the etheric rudder and nearly standing the fighter on its nose in an attempt to evade the gunners on the other ships. Another high pitched squeal burst out of the speaker by her head. "Dorja?" She called, "Dorja, I really hope you can hear me. You had better send in the security, we've got company."

There was no reply. Not that she had been expecting anything. They must be jamming her signal. Silencing the comm once again, she took a deep breath and stretched out to the Force, letting it guide her hands to continue her evasive maneuvers while she considered her options. The other two warships opened fire as she thought. She was out here alone in a fighter that had yet to be tested in battle, up against three very formidable looking war vessels. Depending on how angry Xanix was, he would either try to capture her or simply shoot her out of the sky. Given their last encounter, she was willing to bet that he would go for the latter option. _What are my options, here? I can't fight them, not in this half-finished bucket of bolts. I can't outrun them. _She glanced up at the approaching ships. If she could beat them back to the planet, the planetary defense grid should be automatically activated if they tried to shoot her down. It was going to be close, though, and she would be dangerously exposed for several seconds as she passed through the optimal firing range. Gritting her teeth, she punched the thrusters, making a mad dive for the planet. The acceleration pushed her back in her seat as the inertial dampeners tried to keep up with the sudden dive. The warship on the right was starting to respond, trying clumsily to match her dive, angling in to cut her off. A stray laser from the one above stuck a glancing blow to the aft deflector, setting off the wail of a warning alarm. Her danger sense tingled again and she abandoned her dive for a quick roll to the port, barely avoiding another flurry of laser bolts that burned through the space she had just occupied.

Chiara glanced at her display as she resumed her dive and cursed. The precious seconds she had lost in that evasive maneuver were going to cost her. She would be hard pressed to slip by the ship that was angling to cut off her escape to the planet, and now she would be in their laser range for a few seconds longer than would have been necessary before. What was more, it seemed that her aft deflector had been shorted out by that one laser blast, taking most of her aft sensors with it. She was blinded to the movements of the Assault Frigate on her tail. She cut power to the now-useless sensors and tried to redirect it into the engines, coaxing them for every last bit of speed. This fighter was designed to be one of the fastest on the market, but she wasn't sure it was going to be fast enough.

A warning alarm sounded from the console. She tried to lean forward against the pressure of the dive that the inertial dampeners couldn't quite eliminate and quickly located the new threat: two proton torpedoes, heading right towards her. So, he had decided that killing her was easier than capturing her. _At least I won't have to find out what new tortures he has thought up for me, _she thought with a grim smile. _Let's see if this anti-torpedo idea of Dorja's actually works. _Chiara flipped a switch on the console and a small, silvery object dropped out neatly behind her. Two thin cables shot out from the package, latching on to the two torpedoes and reeling them in. Chiara was still marveling that this new invention of Dorja's worked at all when the torpedoes collided, exploding in midair.

She was just turning her attention back to the _Black Death _when the fighter bucked like a startled nerf, throwing her against her restraints. Alarms screamed at her from every direction as the ship spiraled out of control. Xanix's flagship had finally managed to connect, its laser bolts burning through the engine section of the prototype fighter. A detached part of her brain marveled at the fact that the little fighter hadn't exploded while she assessed the damage. Three out of four engines were failing and there was no way she was going to make it to the safety of the planet, now.

As she watched the display, trying to sort through her options, two then three of the engine indicator lights flickered and then went out. Another pair of lasers lanced past her cockpit. They had the range, now, and it wouldn't take long before her ship got blown to shrapnel. She had exactly one option left, and it was desperate to the point of being suicidal. The hyperdrive was still a work in progress and Dorja had warned her that it wasn't stable enough to be used. It was her only chance at surviving the next few minutes.

Chiara glanced at the incoming warships and grimaced as another blast caught her squarely on the forward shields, rocking the little ship and setting off another half dozen alarms. Setting her teeth, she pulled hard on the stick, ignoring the squeal off protest that the lone working engine gave off. Half way through the turn, the inertial dampeners started to fail, hurling her sideways into the side of the cockpit. Her head struck the edge of the cockpit, momentarily stunning her. She felt blood start to trickle down her forehead as she fought against the force of her spin that was pressing her back into the side of her seat. Another laser missed her by no more than a meter, darkening the canopy as it scorched by. Spots started to swim at the edges of her vision as she her body was subjected to far too much G force as the inertial dampeners continued to fail.

With one final effort, she pushed hard against the side of the cockpit, throwing herself forward to the control board. Her fingers closed around the hyperspace lever. With a glance toward the warship that was now looming directly above her, she eased the lever back. The star blurred into starlines and, with a horrible sounding thud from somewhere aft, Chiara was thrown back into her seat as the failing dampeners weren't able to keep up with the sudden forward thrust. Her head snapped back to hit the back of the cockpit and the world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_What is that awful noise? _Chiara wondered groggily. _What's going on? _Her eyes snapped open as it came back to her: She had been out testing this new fighter when Xanix caught up with her and attacked. She had been forced to jump to hyperspace with a hyperdrive that wasn't anywhere close to ready for use. She fought to make her eyes focus on the control board, ignoring the cacophony of warning alarms that blared in her ear. How long was she unconscious? Finally, her eyes zeroed in on the board. She was still in hyperspace! She lunged for the lever and dropped the ship back out of hyperspace. The crippled fighter gave a loud bang as the inertial dampeners failed entirely, throwing her forward against her restraints. She was pretty sure she heard a couple of ribs crack from the force.

Gritting her teeth against the pain, Chiara checked the sensor board. None of them were working. She peered out of the canopy, trying to see around the scorch marks from the near miss, hoping there was a planet nearby. All she could see was empty space and stars. She turned her attention to the diagnostic screens. Engines, shields, inertial dampeners - pretty much everything was down. _At least I still have life support, _she thought. Suffocating slowly in space wasn't exactly her idea of a good way to die. Of course, if no one found her out here, she was going to eventually run out of air and suffocate, anyway. If she used a Jedi hibernation trance, she could stretch out her supply of oxygen, hopefully giving someone enough time to find her.

A single blinking light caught her eye. Chiara gave a humorless laugh as she looked at the display. All of the vital systems that would get her out of this mess were completely obliterated, yet somehow the chrono was still functioning. Her moment of mirth was cut short by the realization that she had been unconscious and flying blind through hyperspace for over eight hours. _I suppose I should be glad that I didn't fly through a star or something, considering the fact that I did the jump without any calculations. I have no idea where I am, though._

Unfortunately, it looked like that was the only jump through hyperspace that she would be doing. The return to normal space had fried the prototype hyperdrive, which meant that she was stranded. The comm still seemed to be working, though. With a few quick keystrokes, Chiara started broadcasting a distress signal. Perhaps she would get lucky and someone would pick up her signal and rescue her.

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"Captain, we're picking up a signal from somewhere in this sector. It's not a signal that I recognize from any of the races that occupy this system. Shall we investigate?" One of the bridge crew asked.

The captain pulled up the location of the signal on his display. "Interesting," he commented, studying the readout. "Helm, bring us in for a closer look."

It only took a few minutes to locate the source of the signal. Floating silently in the middle of space was a small, one-man craft. From the scorch marks and ragged edges of metal where bits of the ship had been blown away, it was clear that it had been in a battle. The captain leaned forward, staring at it intently as if he could divine its origin simply by staring. "Sensors, are there any life signs?" He called.

"Yes, sir," answered the sensor tech. "There is one life sign, though it's very faint."

"Weapons?"

"No, sir, it seems to be unarmed."

The captain steepled his fingers under his chin, his eyes still on the motionless craft. The ship slowed to a halt bare meters in front of the damaged ship. He could see the outline of the pilot through the darkened canopy of the smaller ship. He wasn't moving. The captain's eyes slid past the cockpit to take in the rest of the mangled craft. Despite its lack of weaponry, it seemed to be some sort of fighter. It clearly wasn't built for traveling long distances or for hauling any sort of cargo. Perhaps the weapons system had been stripped off for an unknown purpose, but he could see where lasers would be mounted on the wings. Straightening almost imperceptibly, he made his decision. "Bring it on board," he ordered.

An hour later, he stood on the deck of the small hangar bay, watching as the techs cut open the cockpit. The pilot had yet to move, suggesting that he was either unconscious or severely injured.

"Sir?" one of the techs called. "We should have this open in a moment or two."

"Excellent." He turned to the warriors who were waiting behind him. "Stand ready. It would seem that the pilot is not conscious, but it would be best to be prepared." The warriors moved into position to surround the cockpit of the craft, weapons drawn and trained on unmoving pilot. With a pop, the final bolt sealing the cockpit gave way and the scorched canopy popped open. With the blackened transparisteel no longer obstructing his view, he could see that the pilot was indeed unconscious. He watched as the medics moved in, carefully maneuvering the pilot out the cockpit and lower him to the deck. It came as a mild surprise when he realized that the unconscious form lying on the deck was, in fact, a woman's. Her hair was a surprising shade of red-brown and her skin color was like none he had ever seen before. Aside from the odd color, her face was remarkably beautiful. Her high cheekbones were complimented by an aquiline nose and full lips (also of an interesting color he had never seen before). Her eyes were fringed by long, dark lashes. Blood was crusted on one side of her face from a cut just above her left temple and matted some of her hair. Her ears were unique to anything he had seen before, too, slightly elongated and sweeping elegantly backwards into a point.

The medics crowded around her, blocking his view. "Report," he commanded.

One of the medics straightened. "She seems to be relatively stable, sir, though it is of course hard to be certain when we know nothing of her physiology. We'd like to take her to the medbay for further examination."

The captain nodded. "Two warriors will accompany you. You will notify me when you have more information." He watched as the medics loaded her onto a carefully maneuvered it across the crowded hangar deck. He turned back to the techs who were still clustered around the battered ship. "I expect a preliminary report on this ship in an hour."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Chiara gradually became aware of voices talking in an unfamiliar language nearby. She sniffed silently, relishing the cool, clean air that filled her lungs. Her life support had already been running dangerously low when a small electrical fire in her fighter consumed most of her remaining oxygen and left her with nasty burns on one arm. With only a few hours of life support left, she'd been left with no choice but to put herself into a deep hibernation trance and hope that someone found her before her air supply was completely exhausted.

Apparently, someone had indeed found her. The only question was, who? Cautiously, she opened one eye just a slit and tried to look around. Something beeped near her head and she hastily snapped her eye shut. The voices moved closer and she felt cool hands lift her burned wrist. Deft fingers expertly applied some sort of cream to the burn. Chiara sighed in relief, then caught herself too late. _Well, they know I'm awake, now._ Sheepishly, she opened her eyes and found herself looking into a pair of glowing red eyes staring out at her from a blue face. He was dressed in a black uniform, sporting a yellow patch on one shoulder. She blinked in surprise. What sort of aliens were these? Certainly none she'd ever encountered before.

He said something to her in a language she'd never heard as he continued spreading the cream over her burn. She shook her head and shrugged to indicate that she didn't understand him. Over his shoulder, she could see two more of the blue skinned aliens. The female had some sort of hand gun trained on her, apparently in case she decided to make a break for it or to attack. The second was speaking softly into what appeared to be some sort of comm system. Their uniforms were nearly identical to the to the one worn by the alien she had tentatively identified as a medic, except that their shoulder patches were green. She yelped as a searing pain shot through her burned arm and jerked it away from the medic. He took a step back, holding up his hands defensively, clutching the bandage he had been trying to apply in one hand. The female stepped forward menacingly, brandishing her weapon.

"Sorry," Chiara muttered, offering her arm to the medic. "You just surprised me, that's all. Be a bit more gentle, okay?"

Hesitantly, the medic stepped forward and started winding the bandage around her burns. He was about halfway done when the door slid open and another alien strode in. He was taller than the others and his uniform had a burgundy patch. She wondered if the colors indicated different roles or if they meant something else entirely. The newcomer stopped in front of her, studying her. After a moment, he turned to the medic and asked him a question. She focused on the sound of the language as the medic responded, trying to find a similarity to one of the numerous languages that she knew. This one was totally new to her, though, and filled with interesting glotal stops and plosives. After a moment, the newcomer turned back to her and addressed her in the same language.

Chiara shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand your language. Do you speak Basic?"

He merely arched one blue-black eyebrow at her and stared at her with those glowing eyes.

"Okay, what about Bocce?" she asked, switching to that language. Again, silence. "Didn't think so. Sy Bisti? Meese Caulf?" He just kept looking at her. "Umm, I'm running out of languages that you are likely to know, here."

"Sy Bisti will suffice," he finally said.

She blinked at him. "Sy Bisti, right."

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" He asked.

"I - ouch!" she exclaimed as the medic's fingers grazed one of the worst burns on the back of her hand.

"My apologies," he murmured in Sy Bisti, gently grasping her unburned fingers to hold her hand steady while he finished wrapping her hand.

She turned back to the alien before her. "I am Jedi Master Chiara Matao. I have no idea where I am and I got here purely by accident. Who are you, if I may ask?"

"I am Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet," he replied coolly. "What was the nature of your 'accident'?"

"That fighter you found me in is an early prototype," she explained. "I was testing it's sublight capabilities for a friend when I was attacked. My attackers managed to take out my sublight drives and my shields were failing. The hyperdrive is nowhere near ready for use, but I didn't have any other option, so I made a blind jump to escape. Unfortunately, I was knocked unconscious during the jump and stayed in hyperspace far longer than I had intended. By the time I regained consciousness, I was quite far outside of known space and stranded. My life support was failing and I was running out of air. If you hadn't found me... well, I probably would have suffocated by now. So, ah, thanks."

"A prototype, you say? Is it a long range scoutship?"

"No. Dorja just wanted to be the first one to design a viable, hyperspace capable fighter. As you can see, the design has a very long way to go."

"And who was it that attacked you?"

She grimaced. "Xanix is a pirate with a grudge against me for nearly bringing down his entire pirating ring. He's been after me for about three or four months, now." She shrugged. "It was just a matter of time until he caught up with me. I was hoping to be planetside when it happened, though, so I'd have a bit more of a fighting chance. One half-finished fighter against three warships is hardly a fair or winnable fight."

Mitth'raw'nuruodo opened his mouth to ask her another question, but the medic stepped in and said something to him in their language. He nodded, then turned back to her. "Our medic informs me that you are more severely injured than you look and need to rest. We will continue this conversation later." With that, he turned and strode out of the room.

Chiara watched him go, then refocused her eyes on the medic. "How many ribs did I break?"

His lip twitched. "Eight."

She sighed. "I probably should be grateful that I didn't puncture a lung, too, but broken ribs hurt like hell."

"Would you like something for the pain?"

"Yes, please."

He retrieved a hypospray from a nearby table and pressed it against her neck. She heard a hiss and felt the medication start to take affect. Relaxing against the cold metal table, she closed her eyes and stretched out to the Force, dropping into a healing trance.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Thanks for the favorite & follow, Thrawn74!

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**Chapter 4**

"There you are," Chaf'alm'itrina said, securing the bandage around her arm with an adhesive strip. "I shall come in the morning to change your bandage again and apply more of the burn cream. I'll leave you some medicine for the pain for tonight, as well. You will be able to take more in three hours."

"Thanks, but I don't think I'll need it. I feel fine, really," Chiara said.

"Your people must be resilient, indeed. I've never seen broken bones mend so quickly," he commented.

Chiara smiled. Chaf'alm'itrina had been saying things like that since she insisted on walking out the medbay on her own power when the arrived at the Chiss base just a few hours after she first woke up in his medbay. The first thing he had done when they got to the more sophisticated medbay of the base was take a detailed scan of her torso. He'd been quite surprised to find that her broken ribs had already healed. The other medics hadn't believed him that they had ever been broken until he retrieved a copy of the scan he took in the ship's medbay while she was still unconscious. They kept her there for a few more hours, not seeming to know what to do with her now that she didn't need medical attention. Finally, one of the warriors appeared to escort her to a non-descript cell that was little more than a cot and a small fresher.

Chaf'alm'itrina snapped the case of his medkit shut. "Captain Mitth'raw'nuruado wishes to see you. I will escort you to him."

Chiara followed him along the winding corridors of the base, ignoring the warrior that had fallen in behind them. She had deduced that they were on a planet from the lack of engine vibrations, but that was all she knew about her surroundings. The walls of the base seemed to be built out of some sort of composite metal that she had never seen before. The place seemed to be quite busy, as they were passing quite a few people on their way. Most of them stared at her curiously. Apparently, they didn't get many visitors.

Finally, Chaf'alm'itrina stopped outside a doorway and pressed a button. The door hissed open, revealing a small office with a desk and two chairs. Captain Mitth'raw'nuruado stood studying an elaborate painting in rich colors that adorned one wall.

"Come in," he said, not turning from the artwork. Chiara stepped in and the door slid shut behind her, leaving her alone with the captain. "I trust you are recovering your strength, Jedi Master Chiara Matao."

"Yes, thank you, Captain Mitthh'raw'nuruado," she said, matching his formal tone. "Your medics are quite skilled. I am most grateful for their aid."

"Yet I understand that your ribs healed without their intervention. The only treatment they have provided has been to your burns," he observed, his back still turned to her as he continued studying the painting.

"I have some small skill at healing myself," she said carefully. The Chiss clearly had never heard of Jedi and she wasn't sure how they would react to her abilities. It was better not to tell them too much at once.

"And slowing your own heart rate, it would seem. I've seen the reports from the medics and your heart rate was nearly 75% lower than what they have established as your resting heart rate when you were first brought on board." He finally turned to look at her, his glowing red eyes scrutinizing her face. "What other 'abilities' do you have?"

She met his gaze without flinching. "Do you want me to run through the whole list, or do you want the short version?" she asked drily.

He arched one blue-black eyebrow at her. "Perhaps you can explain this device to me, instead," he said, lifting a long silver cylinder out of a drawer in his desk. "Is it a weapon?"

"Ah, that's my lightsaber. It is a weapon, but it's mostly used for defensive purposes. It's an energy blade."

"How is it activated?" he asked, turning it over and examining it.

"The activation stud is on the side. If you push it, the blade will activate at that end, " she said, pointing.

Mitth'raw'nuruado held the lightsaber out gingerly and pressed the activation stud. A blue blade leapt out, thrumming gently in the silence of the office. "Fascinating," he said, giving it an experimental flick of the wrist. "But I fail to see how this can be used practically, even for defense. It would require close proximity to your enemy, but they would have ample time to attack before you got in close enough to use it."

Chiara shrugged, ignoring the itch in her palm that tempted her to use the Force to wrench her lightsaber away from him. She had never been fond of letting anyone else handle the lightsaber that she had so painstakingly built. "It's quite effective, if you know how to use it. It can deflect energy bolts and cut through most objects." Telling him about enhanced Jedi reflexes probably wasn't the best of ideas until she had a better idea of what he intended to do with her.

He still didn't look like he was entirely convinced, but he flicked the lightsaber off and put it back in the drawer. "Please, have a seat, Jedi Master Chiara Matao."

"Thank you," she said, sitting down in the chair across the desk from him, stretching out to the Force as she did so to try and get some sense of this man. "You can call me Master Matao, though. The whole title is usually reserved for formal occasions." She saw his eyebrow twitch and she caught a subtle flicker of displeasure. _Oh, he's probably not so enthusiastic about the idea of calling me 'Master,' since these people clearly know nothing about the Jedi. _"Actually, just Chiara is fine. It's not like the being a Jedi means anything out here," she amended. __

"Titles are never meaningless, even when those who use them do not understand their full implications. Nevertheless, I thank you, Chiara," he said, inclining his head slightly. "My technicians have finished examining your craft. They have concluded that your statement that this is an early prototype is indeed true. Do you often test new craft?"

Chiara shook her head. "No, this is the first prototype I have ever tried. I just happened to have a stopover on a planet where an old acquaintance tinkers around with ship design. He knows I have a penchant for speed and maneuverability and asked me to put it through its paces and give him some feedback." She smiled wryly. "I don't think I'll be giving it a very positive review."

"The technicians believe that it cannot be repaired. The hyperdrive sustained a total meltdown and almost all of the systems were destroyed by the power surge that it produced. They are currently trying to retrieve enough navigational data to ascertain your course so that you can return to your region of space," he told her.

"While I appreciate the effort, I'm not sure what good it will do when I don't have a functional ship to use to get back. Unless perhaps you would be willing to have one of your people take me back? I'm sure the Jedi Council would be happy to provide you with a reward for returning me."

"Unfortunately, at this time none of our ships can be spared," he replied.

She swallowed the wave of frustration that was building in her chest. _There is no emotion, there is peace, _she recited silently._ There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity._ _There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force._ She took a deep breath. "What would you suggest, then? I can't stay here forever."

"I propose this: that you remain here until a ship becomes available. When one does, I will see to it that you are returned to your J'di Council. In the meantime, perhaps we can come to a mutually agreeable arrangement for your food and shelter."

"What did you have in mind?" she asked, wondering if she really wanted to know.

"Nothing too taxing. I would like your company and for you to teach me your language."

"My company? Why?" she asked. "Wanting to learn Basic I can understand. My company, though..."

"I wish to learn more about your region of space and these J'di," he answered simply.

"Fair enough. I'd obviously get the opportunity to learn more about your people, too."

"Then it is settled. I will make the necessary arrangements and see to it that you are moved to more comfortable accommodations," he said, picking up a datapad and tapping away at it. And with that, the interview was over.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Thanks for the review and favorite, meline387! Glad you are enjoying it.

As always, reviews are love!

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**Chapter 5**

Chiara yawned and rolled over in the darkness, nearly falling out of her narrow bunk. Her eyes flew open as she reached out for something to steady herself. _Well, that was graceful, _she thought, still hanging half off the mattress. She tried unsuccessfully to wiggle back onto the bed, but quickly gave up and let herself drop to the floor from the top bunk she had picked to sleep on, last night, performing a neat somersault and landing on her feet. _That actually may have been the most exciting thing that has happened since I got here. _She had been here (wherever here was) for three days now, and she was starting to get seriously bored. Aside from her nightly language lessons with the Captain, there was little to break up the monotony of her days. Her meals were always delivered by one of Mitth'raw'nuruado's warriors, none of whom seemed interested in conversation. Several of them even went so far as to pretend they couldn't understand her when she tried to speak Sy Bisti to them. At least she had more room in her present quarters than the she'd had in the tiny holding cell she had initially been put in, but with two bunks, two drawers, a table and compact 'fresher station, it could hardly be considered spacious. It had taken her less than two minutes to give it a thorough investigation and poke into all the nooks and crannies.

_I guess I'm too used to running around the galaxy fixing other people's problems, _she reflected. _I've been telling the Council for years that we are overworked and need to help people learn to solve their own disagreements instead of relying us to fix every little conflict. Not that the Council listened to me. We never get the chance to just be and to seek a deeper communion with the Force._

Her stomach growled, interrupting her thoughts and prompting her to glance at her wrist chrono. Her breakfast wouldn't arrive for another hour or so. She was tempted to go and find the mess hall. After all, Mitth'raw'nuruado had made it sound more like she was a guest here than a prisoner. Abruptly, she made up her mind.

Chiara paused to pull a brush through her hair and splash some water in her face. Donning one of the black tunics and trousers that had been provided for her, she crossed to the door. It was a matter of mild surprise to her when the door slid open in response to her touching the controls. She poked her head out into the corridor, half expecting to see a guard lurking nearby, but the corridor was empty. No one came charging around the corner to chase her back into her room as she stepped into the deserted hallway, either. Picking a direction, she started off, trying to look like she belonged.

She turned down a few corridors at random before deciding she was never going to find the mess hall by wandering around, and she had yet to see anyone to ask for directions. _Well, it is breakfast time, so there is likely to be a large concentration of Chiss in the mess, _she reasoned. She stretched out to the Force, locating the densest group of lifeforms nearby and set off towards it.

As she got closer, she started encountering some traffic. For the most part, the Chiss ignored her, though one or two did give her a curious look as they passed. Finally, she found a large set of double doors that led into a large room on her right. The unmistakable aroma of food wafted out to her, making her stomach growl. Chiara grabbed a tray and a glass of what she recognized as the syrupy black juice that she liked so much and joined the line for the serving station. It was only when she reached the station that she realized to her chagrin that the Chiss warriors were all selecting covered plates that were labeled in what she assumed was Chiss script.

She was still wondering what was what when a voice behind her said, "I would suggest the _tusvim'i vutniraci_."

Chiara turned around and came face to face with the Captain. "Good morning, Captain Mitth'raw'nuruado," she said, trying to mask her surprise. The captain gave her knowing smile as he picked up two of the covered dishes, setting one on her tray and the other on his.

"Join me," he commanded, leading the way to a pair of empty seats at one of the long tables that filled the room. "I see that you finally tired of your quarters."

"They are very comfortable," she said as she sat down beside him, her years of diplomatic training and experience automatically kicking in. "I'm just not used to sitting around and doing nothing."

"An understandable sentiment," he answered, lifting the cover off his dish. Whatever _tusvim'i vutniraci_ was, it smelled delicious. "You are free to move about, provided that you do not leave this building."

"Thank you," she said, taking the lid off her plate and inhaling the fragrant smells. It appeared to be some sort of sausage, along with some purple tubers and a pile of what she tentatively identified as a vegetable. Thus far, she had found Chiss food to be more heavily spiced that what she was accustomed to, but good. She sliced off a small piece of sausage and chewed it slowly. "This tastes like nerf sausage," she remarked before taking a second bite.

"What is a nerf?" Mitth'raw'nuruado asked.

"It's a big, herbivore that is raised for its meat and its hair. They're a main staple of many planets in our region of space," she explained.

"I see. This is _htisahtin'casi_, a large feline predator from our homeworld. Most of our food is produced locally, but we receive occasional shipments from Csilla. The warriors of the Expansionary Defense Fleet are often asked to leave home for extended periods of time, so we try to make it easier by providing them with some of the comforts of home, when possible."

"I see," she said, scooping up some of the vegetables and giving them a try. They were so bitter and overly-seasoned that she nearly spit them out. Not wanting to offend the Captain, she forced herself to chew and swallow. Eyes watering, she chased them down with a gulp of the tangy juice that she was quickly acquiring a taste for.

"What is your opinion of the _ch'asceluv_?" he asked.

"Umm," she said, trying to find something polite to say.

"I don't care for them either." Mitth'raw'nuruado said, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips. _He asked me that just to watch me squirm, _she realized. She considered making a witty comeback, but thought better of it and started on her tubers instead. While still a bit too spicy for her tastes, at least they were palatable.

Mitth'raw'nuruado finished his breakfast, other than the vegetable for which they shared a mutual dislike, and rose. "I trust you can find your way back to your quarters?" he asked.

"I think so."

"Good. Then I will see you this evening for the language lesson. A pleasant day to you."

"And to you, Captain Mitth'raw'nuruado," she replied. He glanced at her, a look of momentary annoyance clouding his well-sculpted features. "I'm saying that wrong, aren't I?" she asked, wincing inwardly. The first rule of diplomacy was to make sure you were saying people's names correctly. Apparently, she was failing at even that simple task.

"Yes," he said coolly. "It is Mitth'raw'nuruado."

"Mitth'raw'nuruado," she repeated, trying to mimic his inflection.

"Mitth'raw'nuruado," he said again, enunciating carefully.

She tried it again, then shook her head. "I'm sorry. I can hear the difference, but I don't think it is physically possible for me to say it correctly."

He regarded her for a moment. "No need to apologize. Your vocal mechanism is clearly inferior to ours. Perhaps it would be easier for you to call me by my Core name, Thrawn."

"That would definitely be simpler," she said, feeling relieved. "Thank you."

Thrawn merely inclined his head slightly, picked up his tray and walked off. Chiara followed him with her eyes. Despite his odd skin tone, she found him remarkably handsome. He was clearly quite well-muscled under his black uniform, though this seemed to be fairly typical for his species, if the other Chiss warriors around her were any indication.

She turned her attention back to the breakfast that was beginning to grow cold on her tray.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: meline387, you have no idea how happy your last review made me! I'm hoping I can continue to update every day/every other day, but I work nearly 60 hours a week, so this may not be feasible. I'm certainly going to do my best, though. Hopefully, the least there will ever be is 2 updates a week.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Chiara spent most of the day wandering around, but there really wasn't much to see. The complex she was in was nothing more than barracks and a few offices. The only thing of interest she found was the rec room. There were a handful of hologames scattered throughout the room, but none that she recognized. She had tried to get one of the Chiss who was relaxing there to explain them to her, but he had pretended not to know Sy Bisti. She reined in her annoyance at the frigid attitude that most of the Chiss gave her and decided to ask Thrawn to teach them to her, instead. His grasp of Basic was coming along quite well, but it was a bit amusing to watch him trying to explain the rules to her that night during their language lesson. They spent the next couple of lessons in the rec room, chatting casually in Basic as he beat her soundly in game after game. She couldn't pronounce the name of the one she liked best, but it had a strong resemblance towards dejarik.

"I would not do that," he warned her on the third night as she started to move one of her pieces.

She glared at him. "Then what would you recommend? If I move there," she said, jabbing her finger at another space on the board, "You'll win within two moves. If I do this, I'll last another three moves beyond that and probably take a few more of your pieces with me."

He studied her across the board, his eyes glittering in the dim light. "If you move this piece here, you would effectively block my logical next move, buying yourself more time," he said, indicating another of her pieces.

"Or I could be playing right into your hands. You haven't offered me any strategical advice before now," she pointed out suspiciously.

"That is always a possibility, but only you can decide."

She glanced at him, wishing she could come up with a plan that was brilliant enough to wipe that smug look off his face. Outwardly, he was always polite but she could sense a subtle attitude of superiority through the Force. It wasn't nearly as bad as the outright disdain she got from the other Chiss, but it was still enough to grate on her nerves a bit. She turned her attention back to the board, considering her next move. Finally, she moved a small and insignificant piece to block the attack that she was certain was coming.

"An interesting choice," Thrawn said thoughtfully. "But ultimately insignificant." He moved his most powerful attack piece to destroy her pawn, putting him in position to cut a path of destruction through her remaining defenders on his next turn.

Grinning triumphantly, Chiara moved her attack piece in from the side. He had been so intent on his plan he hadn't noticed that by sacrificing her pawn, she was luring him into the range of her one remaining attacker.

"Excellent," he complimented her. "You are beginning to show some skill at this. Still, you have only delayed the end."

"Now that is praise, indeed. I do believe that's the first positive remark you've made about me," she quipped.

Thrawn stopped studying the board to look at her. He was about to reply when his comlink twittered. He pulled out it out and said something in the Chiss language, then listened to the person on the other side for a moment. His expression and sense tightened as he replied. He stood as he thumbed the comlink and replaced it on his belt. "I am afraid we will have to cut this short," he said, switching to Sy Bisti. "We've picked up some anomalous readings at the edge of the system that bear investigating." He turned and headed for the door. He stopped as it slid open and turned back to her. "Perhaps you would like to accompany me?"

Chiara felt her eyes widen. "Umm, sure," she said. "Why not?"

She followed him through corridors that were suddenly teeming with activity and out across what seemed to be a grassy lawn to the hangar. Much to her disappointment, it had already grown dark out and she couldn't see anything of her surroundings. It'd been dark when they arrived, too, she she still had no idea what sort of a planet she was on.

When they arrived in the hangar, Chiara saw that their fleet was rather small, unless they had something else waiting in orbit. There were just three cruisers and nine smaller craft that she assumed were some sort of fighter. Thrawn lead the way to one of the cruisers. "This is the _Springhawk_," he told her, a note of pride in his voice.

"And you command this ship?" She asked, examining it as they approached. Compared to the Assault Cruisers of the Republic, this one was a little on the small side, but it was clearly well-armored and well-armed.

"Yes, although I myself am under the command of Commander Ina'tin'scalin. He leads Picket Force Two," he explained as the boarded and headed to the bridge. The crew was already there and running through the pre-flight check. Thrawn sat down in the command chair and began issuing orders in the Chiss language. In less than ten minutes they had lifted off and were heading towards the edge of the system.

* * *

The anomalous readings turned out to be nothing more than an asteroid about the size of the Chiss cruisers with an unusually high metal content that seemed to be responsible for the sensor distortions. At the orders of his commander, Thrawn had his weapons specialist blow the asteroid into pieces that were small enough for them to be taken aboard the cruisers and hauled back to the base for study and mining. Chiara watched the entire operation with interest, noting how fluidly Thrawn's crew worked together and their flawless execution of his orders. The entire operation took less than 6 hours, which was a tribute to their speed and efficacy. It was nearly 0300 when they finally arrived back at the base. Chiara decided that her bed sounded a lot more appealing than staying to watch the crewers unload the fragments of asteroid. She made her way back to her quarters and gratefully climbed into bed, falling asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"I am a c'ptain in the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet," Thrawn said, the Basic words coming out oddly accented. It was the day after their late-night expedition into space and they were back in the captain's office. She was surprised that he even wanted to have a language lesson, today, given the fact that he couldn't have gotten more than two or three hours of sleep when they returned. Still, he had insisted that he was fine and that although he wasn't interested in a game of _ch'etecisci_, he still wanted to continue with their lessons as scheduled.

"Close," she said. "It's 'captain,' though. You're dropping the first vowel."

"Captain," he repeated carefully.

"That's it." She paused. "I have a question for you. I find that most of your comrades seem to dislike using Sy Bisti and a few of them have gone so far as to pretend that they don't even understand me. Since I'm teaching you Basic, could you teach me the Chiss language in return? It'd also be nice to actually be able to understand what is being said around me."

He regarded her for a moment with those glowing red eyes. "I believe that would be..." He trailed off for a moment, clearly searching for the Basic word. He frowned, then switched to Sy Bisti. "How do you say 'admissible'?" She enunciated the Basic word for him carefully. "I believe that would be admissible," he said, switching back to Basic. "It is not likely that you will ever be able to speak Cheunh, as it is clearly beyond the capabilities of your vocal mechanism, but you could learn to understand and read it. You could learn to speak Minnisiat. It is a trade language that is widely used in this region of space."

She smiled a bit as he abandoned his attempt at using Basic half way through his answer and reverted to Sy Bisti. Clearly, the lack of sleep was affecting him a bit more than he was willing to admit - he normally would have been able to get through than sentence with little trouble. Still, his ability to effortlessly change between languages was pretty impressive. "Good," she said. "When can we start?"

"Ever the impatient one," he observed. "It will have to wait until tomorrow. I must see to my duties."

"Sorry," she apologized. "I don't mean to seem ungrateful and I know you must be tired. I've just never been much good at sitting around with nothing to do; I'm more of the active type. Besides, one can only spend so many hours a day in meditation." When she had been a Padawan, her need for constant activity had been a source of annoyance to her Master. She could remember the many times that he had ordered her to spend an entire trip between planets in meditation. She had seldom lasted more than an hour before she came bouncing into his room. Time and age had taught her the value of meditation and stillness, but it still wasn't one of her strong points.

Thrawn regarded her with his glittering eyes. "Perhaps you would appreciate the opportunity for some physical exertion. You may accompany me to the training room in the morning, if you so wish. You may find Chiss hand-to-hand combat techniques interesting."

"That would be wonderful," she agreed enthusiastically.

"Then I will come for you at 0500 hours."

* * *

Thrawn keyed the door chime at precisely 0500. It was clear from the lightsaber she had been carrying when they found her that she was some sort of warrior, or at least that she pretended to be one. She had also made a few observations to him about the performance of his crew during the expedition to investigate the asteroid that made it clear that she had at least some command experience, as well. He had every intent of drawing her into a hand-to-hand engagement so he could assess her skills and training. The door to her quarters slid open and Thrawn blinked in mild surprise at the sight of her. She was clad in a deep blue sleeveless bodysuit that emphasized the well-sculpted muscles of her lithe form. Her dark auburn hair, which she normally wore loose, was tamed back into a braid that hung nearly to her slender waist.

"Good morning," he greeted her in Basic. "Are you ready?"

"Good morning," she returned, moving out to join him in the hall. "I'm ready. Where is it exactly that we are going?"

"All Chiss warriors are required to stay in continuous training to maintain their combat skills and readiness," he explained as he started down the corridor. She fell into step beside him, her every movement exuding energy. "The nature of the training varies from day to day, but today is devoted to unarmed, hand-to-hand fighting techniques. The training facility is in another complex on the base."

He lead her through the barracks and out into the cool morning air. The sun was just beginning to rise over the distant mountains, painting the landscape in brilliant hues of red and orange. Chiara halted for a moment, looking out over the lush terrain. From somewhere nearby, one of the native bird-like species took up a warbling song.

"I haven't been outside in the daylight before now," she commented. "This is a beautiful planet. It feels so alive. Is this a Chiss colony?"

"Not yet. There are still a few of the more dangerous native species that will need to be cleared out before we open up the planet to colonization. We must first make sure that it will not damage the balance of the echosystem if we relocate them to another area. The colonization will mostly likely begin in the next year. The training facility is this way," he said, gesturing towards the domed building to their left. As they entered, he was somewhat relieved to note that Commander Ina'tin'scalin was not present. The commander had not been entirely pleased to learn that Thrawn had offered Chiara shelter and a place among his crew until she could return home. He had responded with the typical Chiss isolationist attitude, insisting that Thrawn could learn nothing of value from this outsider and that he was wasting his time. Nevertheless, he had not forbidden Thrawn from studying her.

Thrawn moved to join a group of warriors who were doing some light stretching to warm up before the training began, leaving Chiara to her own devices. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she found an open spot on the floor and went through a series of calisthenics. She moved fluidly from one exercise to the next with remarkable agility. His eyes were irresistibly drawn to the grace with which she moved, sliding forward and fading back with the practiced ease of a dancer. He was forced to divert his attention from her when the drillmaster entered and began the class with a review of Chiss combat technique. After a few minutes, he noticed that she had stopped her own exercises and was watching intently as the warriors moved through the classic forms of hand-to-hand fighting.

Thrawn was surprised when Chiara approached him when the drillmaster ordered them to break into pairs for sparring. "Care to see how your skills measure up against a non-Chiss?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, "Although you have the advantage of having had the opportunity to observe our techniques, whereas I have seen nothing of your methods."

She laughed. "I'll go easy on you."

He ignored her bravado, fully expecting her combat skills to be as lacking as her skills at _ch'etecisci_. "The goal is to force your opponent to yield, either by forcing them outside of the combat zone," he explained, indicating the round mats that littered the floor, "Or by pinning them to the ground for three seconds."

She nodded her understanding, her gaze fixed on the slow dance that the other sparring partners had taken up around them. After a moment, she dropped into a combat stance that seemed loosely based on the one that was chiefly used by the Chiss. When she didn't seem to be in any hurry to attack first, he launched a series of attacks that were aimed at gauging her reactions rather than a quick and easy defeat. To her credit, she blocked every one of his blows with ease, matching his moves to the point of perfection. As he broke off his assault and stepped back to analyze her responses, she went on the offensive with a series of feints and counterfeints that the warriors had executed at the beginning of the session. The energy that he had noticed in her earlier gave her movements an edge of unpredictability that he found somehow unsettling. Even though he knew which move came next in the sequence, she moved through them without cadence, speeding up and slowing down without warning and making it difficult to time his blocks. After a few moments, Thrawn became aware that the drillmaster had halted his circuit around the room to critique the pairs and was watching them intently.

Chiara ended her attack and stepped back, her blue eyes assessing him. _Clearly, she truly is a warrior and experienced at hand-to-hand combat_, he thought. She was a quick study, too - the form of _Ch'etecici'ahn Ch'ast_ normally took several months to gain even a basic proficiency, yet she had developed a surprisingly good grasp of it simply by watching a single training session. There was nothing to be gained by continuing with these attack patterns, he decided and changed to _Bisivcah_, which focused more on using leverage against an opponent and taking them down, rather than defeating them through force. She was light enough that he should be able to throw her around with ease and she hadn't been privy to watching them practice the form, giving him the advantage. He moved in as if he intended to launch another flurry of punches, then lashed out with one foot at the last moment, sweeping her legs out from under her. She went down hard, rolling away from him as he attempted to pin her down and claim victory. She was on her feet again in an instant and darted out of his reach.

He watched her warily, half expecting her to launch a counter-attack. Instead, she seemed to relax as she closed her eyes for a brief second. He took advantage of her moment of seeming distraction to attack again. He had just started to move when her eyes opened and she fixed him with a look that stopped him in his tracks. Gone was the excess of energy that had filled her every move just moments before. In its place was the cold, calculating calm of a seasoned warrior who was accustomed to staring death in the face without blinking. He was still re-evaluating his next move when she went into motion, launching a blistering attack that nearly drove him to his knees as he tried to fend her off. Her attack left her ever-so-slightly overbalanced, giving him an opening to take back the offensive. He lunged at her, pinning her outstretched arm behind her back and trying to force her to the ground. Impossibly, she twisted away from him and used his leverage against him to flip him over and slam him into the mat. The impact drove the air from his lungs and his head snapped back to bounce off the mat with enough force that he saw stars. He tried to kick her feet out from under her, but she launched herself into a backwards flip with a dancer's ease just before he connected. Still, her retreat bought him the precious seconds he needed to regain his feet.

Thrawn abandoned any attempt at subtlety in favor of trying to overwhelm her with sheer strength. He wasn't terribly strong by Chiss standards, but she was so slight that he had no doubt that she couldn't stand under an assault that had his full weight behind each blow. Yet, every time he went to strike, she wasn't there anymore: It was like boxing the air. Finally, he did a double-feint, drawing her to the right just as he put his full force behind a blow from the left. She staggered back as he connected with her ribs. To his astonishment, she avoided his follow-up blow by leaping straight up into the air and over him. He spun around to find Chiara advancing on him, a look of deadly calm in her eyes that was enough to chill his blood.

"Enough," the drillmaster said, cutting in. "You have both demonstrated admirable skill, versatility and ingenuity. There is nothing more to be gained by continuing this engagement."

Chiara's eyes flicked to the drillmaster, then back to Thrawn. A faint smile touched her lips as she gave him a half-bow. Thrawn inclined his head in response, suddenly aware that all the other warriors had stopped sparring to watch them. As she followed him off the mat, he noticed that she had barely broken a sweat, whereas his shirt was fairly drenched.

"If that was going easy, I don't believe I want to ever meet you in real fight," he said drily, offering her a glass of water from the refreshment station. She grinned at him as she took a sip. "Your reflexes are quite remarkable."

"I wouldn't call that going easy," she said. "Not once we got going, at least. I'm surprised you managed to last that long - I've been in more than my fair share of challenge matches and my opponent seldom lasts more than a few minutes."

"And where did you learn such skill at fighting?"

Her eyes flicked to the warriors around them who had resumed their sparring. "Do you really want to discuss this here?" she asked.

"You have a point. Not here," Thrawn conceded. His glowing eyes burned into hers. "But I will have an answer," he warned.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: meline387, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I had a lot of fun writing it. Thrawn needs to be humbled a bit, and who better to do it than a Jedi? :p

sdnightwolf, thank you for the favorite and follow!

As a side note, I'm having a lot of internet trouble right now and this may cause some delays in chapters being posted. Please hang in there, I'm trying to post in a timely fashion!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Chiara paused just outside the door to Thrawn's office, stretching out to the Force for calm and guidance. She had mediated plenty of high-stakes peace negotiations, but this was likely to be something entirely different. How did she explain the Jedi to Thrawn without making herself sound like a threat? It was a situation that was absolutely unheard of in the Republic. Everyone knew who the Jedi were and trusted them as guardians and peacekeepers. Here, though, the Chiss would have no history to reference to assure them of the Jedi's non-aggression. All Thrawn was likely to see was a highly trained and deadly warrior. In retrospect, perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to take him up on his offer for some exercise. She had let herself get too wrapped up in the desire to take his superiority complex down a notch and hadn't thought through the possible consequences. _Hindsight is always 20/20 and pride comes before a fall_, she thought as she keyed the door.

"Come in," Thrawn invited her, glancing up from the datapad he was pouring over. "Please, be seated."

She sat across the desk from him and studied the painting behind him as she waited for him to finish his work, toying absentmindedly with the end of her braid. After a moment, Thrawn set his datapad aside and joined her on the couch. He winced almost imperceptibly as he sat down.

"Sorry about that," she said sympathetically. "I didn't mean to put you down quite so hard."

"There is no need to apologize. Hand-to-hand combat training days have a tendency to leave a few warriors in varying degrees of discomfort." He smiled faintly. "Although, I'm not normally one of them."

"I have to say, I was impressed that you managed to actually take me down. That doesn't happen very often."

"Yes," he said thoughtfully. "That much is obvious. Tell me, where you did you learn such skills? Are the J'di warriors?"

"Jedi," she corrected automatically. "And we're not really warriors. We are the guardians of peace in the Republic and fight only as a last resort. Typically speaking, mediation by a Jedi is enough to bring about a favorable resolution of conflict between two groups before it gets that far. We all have combat training, but it focuses primarily on defensive fighting. As you noted, a lightsaber is hardly practical as an offensive weapon."

"And the peoples of your Republic simply accept your judgement?" he asked.

"The Jedi are universally accepted as impartial judges in the Republic and we have been for a thousand generations. We serve the Force and, through it, the cause of justice rather than serving a government."

"What is this 'Force'?"

Chiara gestured helplessly, searching for words to describe it to him. _How does one sum up in a few sentences what we spend a lifetime studying? _"The Force is an energy field that penetrates and binds all life. It's what gives a Jedi their power."

"And what powers would those be?" Thrawn asked, seeming both intrigued and doubtful at the same time.

"It can vary a bit, but pretty much all Jedi have some form of psychic, telekinetic and physical powers. For instance, I can control my heart rate and breathing rate to induce a state of hibernation. I can also speed up my own healing process, as I did with my ribs," she said, drawing on two illustrations that he had already seen. "My connection to the Force gives me speed, stamina and strength beyond the physical norm. It also guides me on the occasions when I have to engage in battle and can be used to predict the movements of an opponent to stay ahead of their attacks. You may have noticed the difference this morning when I started drawing on the Force while we were sparring."

"That was early on, after you got back up." It was more of a statement than a question, but she nodded anyway.

"Yes. I sometimes like to challenge myself to see if I can get through a sparring match on my own skills alone and I hadn't really expected you to be good enough for me to need to use the Force. Obviously, I underestimated you," she said with a smile.

"And what of these psychic powers?" he asked.

"The manifestation of psychic powers tends to vary a lot by individual. Some Jedi have visions of the future. Some can influence the minds of others - though I've never been any good at that," she added quickly, seeing the frown on Thrawn's face. "It only works on the weak minded, anyway. My talent lies more in sensing and understanding the emotions of others. For instance, I can sense that you are curious, yet doubtful and that you feel slightly threatened by the possibility that what I am telling you is true." She winced internally as that last bit left her mouth, realizing too late that it probably wasn't the smartest thing to verbalize.

Thrawn just looked at her with those glowing eyes, his expression unreadable. "You could easily be making an educated guess on my reaction simply from observation," he pointed out.

Chiara shrugged. "It's not exactly something I can prove, no. This however..." She raised one hand towards his desk, levitating the datapad and calling it smoothly to her hand. For a moment, Thrawn just stared at her on shock as she held it out to him. Finally, he took it and examined it as if he didn't believe it was the same datapad that he had been using and thought it was some sort of elaborate trick.

"It seems to me that these Jedi skills could easily be used for the subjugation of others," he pointed out when he finished his examination, lifting his flaming eyes back to hers. Chiara suppressed a shiver at the dangerous note that had crept into his voice and sense.

"Yes," she answered carefully, "But we have a very strict code of conduct that governs our actions. The Jedi started as a philosophical group that studied and served the Force and sought to find unity with it. Over time, the early Jedi realized that they could not serve the Force without serving others. The way of the Jedi is the way of self-sacrifice and service. We are taken into the Order when we are only a few years old and spend an average of 20 years studying the Jedi code and its applications before we are fully accepted into the Order and granted the title of Jedi Knight. When we enter the Order, we give up all rights to lands and family position so that we may better serve the Republic without bias or personal interest. We keep no possessions and rely entirely on those whom we serve for provisions. Any capricious use of our powers is expressly forbidden and is considered grounds for being expelled from the Order. We do not force our help or opinions on anyone and only intervene in situations at the express request of parties involved. We use the Force for knowledge and defense only, not for aggression or personal gain."

"I see," he said, still studying her. "You have given me much to consider, Jedi Master Chiara Matao. I believe we will forgo the language lesson, tonight."

It was clearly a dismissal. She stood and crossed to the door, pausing just inside to look back at Thrawn, searching for something else to say to convince him that the Jedi weren't a threat. "Captain, one more thing before I go. I think you should hear the Code which we spend our lives studying and seeking to live by: Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy." She felt calm wash through her as she recited the familiar lines. It was the will of the Force that had brought her here and rescued her when she was stranded in space. Whatever Thrawn's ultimate reaction was to her being a Jedi, the Force would guide and deliver her as it had countless times before. "Jedi use their powers to defend and protect, never to attack others. Jedi respect all life, in any form. Jedi serve others, rather than rule over them, for the good of the good of the galaxy. Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force." She held held his gaze for a moment as she finished, then quietly turned and slipped out the door.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Chiara was rather disturbed to find that she had picked up a tail when she went to breakfast the next morning. Two of the Chiss warriors had been waiting outside her door and followed her to the mess hall. They hadn't made any attempt to stop her from leaving her room, but Thrawn had clearly assigned them to keep an eye on her. That didn't bode well. Distracted by their presence, she accidentally picked a dish that had some sort of casserole in it that was made mainly out of the vegetable that she found so repulsive. She picked at the other parts of it, but her appetite had vanished with the appearance of her guards. She gave up after a few minutes and dumped her mostly untouched food down the disposal chute and went back to her room, trying to ignore her new shadows.

She sat down on the edge of her bunk for a minute and tried to think. How could she convince Thrawn that the Jedi really were peaceful and that she wasn't a threat? She jumped off the bed and started pacing. If his mind was already made up, what would she do? She couldn't fight her way out of here, even if she had her lightsaber. Besides, as far as she knew, Thrawn's techs were still trying to extrapolate her course from the slagged navcomp of the fighter she had come here in.

_Stop it!_ She told herself. _You are a Jedi Master. What happened to "there is no emotion, there is peace"?_ Taking a deep breath, she sank down on the floor and tried to slow her breathing. Using the visualization exercise that she had taught her Padawans, she pictured her fears as the small, white Ca'arannor birds of her homeworld. She held them for a moment in her mind's eye, looking the birds in the eye and acknowledging her fear. She pictured herself throwing her hands into the air, propelling the birds into flight and watching them disappear into the clear blue sky that represented the Force. A calm settled over her and she reached out to the Force, settling into a meditation trance.

* * *

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when the door to her quarters slid open, admitting one of her guards. Her eyes snapped open and she leapt to her feet, wondering what was going on.

"Captain Mitth'raw'nuruado requires your presence," the warrior told her, one hand straying towards the hand gun that was belted at his waist.

Chiara swallowed and followed him out into the corridor. The other guard was waiting outside and they both took up flanking positions on either side a she headed for Thrawn's office. It came as a bit of a surprise when she finally reached his office and went in that he wasn't alone. Two Chiss warriors were seated in the chairs across from his desk, both of them looking very uncomfortable.

Her eyes flicked uncertainly to Thrawn, back to the to warriors and then back to Thrawn again. "Good morning, Captain," she greeted him.

"You tell me that Jedi are skilled at mediation," he said, wasting no time on niceties and cutting straight to the point. "These two warriors had an altercation this morning over a property dispute. I thought it would be an ideal opportunity for you to demonstrate your skills at conflict resolution."

She looked at the warriors again, frowning. "Mediation can only work if both parties are willing to accept a Jedi's authority," she pointed out. "I highly doubt that is the case here, as neither of them even know what a Jedi is."

"They are under my command and I have ordered them to accept your judgement," he said, the challenge obvious in his glowing eyes.

Despite the sense of calm that lingered from her meditation, she felt a shiver run down her back at the carefully precise tone that he used. Somehow, she knew that everything rested on this meeting: Thrawn's decision was balanced on the edge of a knife. Either she would walk out of here with his trust or she would walk out as his prisoner, or worse, as his enemy to await her execution. Taking a deep breath, she turned to the warrior that was closest to her. "Tell me what happened, please."

They both started talking at once, each clamoring to have their side of the story heard. She held up a hand, silencing them. "One at a time, please. I will hear both of you out, but you must wait your turn." She looked from one to the other, putting the full weight of her Jedi authority into her tone. She turned back to the warrior closest to her. "Now, tell me your name and your side of this."

It took more prodding than normal to find out what had happened, but that wasn't too much of a surprise. Thrawn had to step in when Kres'hamm'brothi, the second warrior, refused to speak Sy Bisti to her in a clear display of his displeasure of being forced to submit to mediation by an alien. It took a very stern order from Thrawn for him to unwillingly relate his side of the story and even that took extensive questioning to draw out of him. The dispute itself was fairly simple: the two shared quarters and worked opposite shifts. Mitth'irm'inisa, the first Chiss, had borrowed his bunkmate's holoviewer and it had been gotten broken sometime between his use and when Kres'ham'brothi returned from his shift. Kres'ham'brothi insisted that Mitth'irm'inisa hadn't asked permission to borrow the viewer and alleged that the damage happened while it was in his care. When he had demanded that Mitth'irm'inisa replace the viewer, a scuffle had broken out between them that ended with Mitth'irm'inisa being treated in the medbay for a concussion. After a bit of probing, Mitth'irm'inisa admitted that he had not asked if he could borrow it on this particular occasion, but stated that Kres'ham'brothi had let him use it many times before and that the viewer had been undamaged when he put it back in Kres'ha'brothi's drawer.

Once they had both finished relating their side of the incident and she had examined the scratches that now marred the screen of the holoviewer, Chiara crossed her arms and considered, trying her best to block Thrawn out and focus on the task before her. She could feel his eyes boring into her as she thought it through. Finally, she spoke. "Mitth'irm'inisa, you admit using the holoviewer and the fact remains that the damage occurred sometime between your use and when Kres'ham'brothi retrieved it from his drawer. The damage was either a result of you mishandling the device or not storing it properly when you replaced it in the drawer. You will, therefore, pay for a replacement. You will also respect your bunkmate's privacy and personal belongings by not opening his drawer or using his personal effects without his express permission." She felt a wave of smug satisfaction from the second warrior. "Kres'ham'brothi," she said, turning to him. "You assaulted your fellow crew member rather than seeking a peaceful resolution to your conflict. As a result of the injuries which you inflicted, he cannot fulfill his duties. You will work both his shift and yours for the next two days while he recovers. In the future, you will seek mediation from your commanding officer if a conflict arises that cannot be agreeably resolved between you and the offending party."

Kres'ham'brothi opened his mouth to protest, but Thrawn cut him off. "Kres'ham'brothi, you have your orders. Mitth'irm'inisa's shift starts in ten minutes. I suggest you report to his post, unless you want to add 'failure to report for duty' to your disciplinary record. Mitth'irm'inisa, you will return to medbay for further treatment and monitoring. I expect you to submit an order for a new holoviewer by the end of the day. Dismissed, both of you."

Chiara waited until they had both left the room before turning to look at Thrawn, wondering if she had passed his test and what he thought of her judgement. He was still watching her intently, though she could feel a subtle change in his sense.

"Well done. Not only did you address the grievances of both sides with fairness, you also educated them on how to avoid future disputes. The punishment for Kres'ham'brothi was quite ingenious and I suspect will have a much more lasting impact than anything I could have come up with," he admitted, the hard edge finally gone from his tone.

She smiled a bit as she took one of the chairs that the warriors had vacated. "I've had a bit of practice."

"Clearly," he said thoughtfully. "Tell me, what is the significance of your title as a Jedi Master? You mentioned that those who are newly accepted into your order are called Jedi Knights. Is a Jedi Master higher or lower in your hierarchy?"

"It is higher," she answered. "When we are first brought to the Temple as young children, we are given the rank of Jedi Initiate. Once an Initiate has been in training for a few years and have passed the Initiate Test, they are eligible to be taken on for individual training by a Jedi Knight or Jedi Master. When this happens, they are called a Padawan Learner. This phase usually lasts between eight and fifteen years, though this can of course vary by individual. Once their mentoring Jedi determines that they are ready, they undergo the Jedi Trials. If they are successful in passing the Jedi Trials, then they are promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight. Most Jedi do not advance beyond this rank. The title of Jedi Master can only be granted by the Jedi Council and are usually granted to those who have successfully trained several Padawans to Knighthood or performed exceptional acts of service."

"And how did you obtain this rank?" he asked.

"It was a combination of training Padawans into Knighthood and service," she said.

"What was your service?" he pressed.

"I was sent to rescue a princess who was being held ransom as part of a territorial dispute between three neighboring systems that were on the brink of all-out war. Not only did I rescue her without any loss of life on any side, I was also able to successfully negotiate a peace treaty between all three species." She shrugged. "That was the last mission I completed prior to being promoted. I suspect that my resolution of the fiasco at Byss also had some affect on the Council's decision."

"Impressive," Thrawn remarked. "And this Jedi Council, they are your governing body?"

She nodded. "They oversee the assignment of missions to all the Jedi, as well as the training of the Initiates. They are responsible for all disciplinary action within the Order and make the final determination in whether or not a Padawan passes their Trials and can advance to Knighthood, among many other things."

"Is discipline often required?"

"No. We spend so much time studying the Code as young children and throughout our training that anyone who is not a suitable candidate for the Jedi is weeded out before they even make it as far as Padawan."

"You mentioned that you are required to give up all possessions and family links. If you become Initiates at such a young age, how can you be expected to make such a decision?" he asked.

"It's the parents that ultimately make the decision to send their child to the Jedi for training. It is considered the highest honor to have a child who devotes their life to serving the Republic through the Jedi," she explained, seeing him frown at the idea of parents willingly giving up their child. "As we get older, we always have the option of choosing to leave the Order and returning to our families. There are very few who choose this path, though. The vast majority of Initiates do eventually become Knights."

"So you yourself own what?" he asked, apparently still trying to wrap his mind around the idea of living in voluntary poverty.

"I own three sets of clothes and my lightsaber." She shrugged. "Food, shelter, transportation... everything else is provided for us."

Thrawn regarded her with those glowing red eyes for several moments. "I think," he said slowly, "that I can almost believe that the Jedi are the peaceful people that you say they are and do not pose a threat to the Ascendancy. That decision does not ultimately rest with me, though. I must speak with my commander about this. I will ask that you remain in your quarters until I have the opportunity to do so. I'll have refreshments sent to you at meal time."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Come," the commander called as Thrawn keyed the door chime. He pushed back from the charts that were spread across his desk as Thrawn entered. "Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo, I hear that two of your crew members were brawling in my corridors, this morning. Have you learned nothing of command authority that you allow your warriors to behave in such a disrespectful and unbecoming fashion?"

"My apologies, Commander Ina'tin'scalin. They have both been dealt with appropriate. It will not happen again," he assured him.

"See to it that it does not," he said sternly. "Now, what did you want?"

Thrawn continued to stand respectfully at attention. "I have a matter which I believe requires your judgment."

"Go on," Ina'tin'scalin prodded as Thrawn paused to gather his thoughts.

"It is about the alien, Jedi Master Chiara Matao," he started.

Ina'tin'scalin hissed in annoyance. "I told you, Mitth'raw'nuruodo, you should have left her to die. You can learn nothing of value from a primitive alien. If you insist on keeping her as your pet, you and you alone are responsible for her."

Thrawn carefully kept his expression neutral. "Commander, I wish for your advice on-"

"My advice is that you execute her and be done with it. Do not waste my time on such trivial matters. She is a distraction to you, nothing more. Either put her back in that junk heap and drop her back into space to die as she should have in the first place or deal with her yourself. If you ask me about her again, I will execute her myself." The commander glared at him across the desk. "Dismissed."

Thrawn turned and left, feeling a bit surprised by the commander's outburst. The commander had a chance at High Command, once, Thrawn knew. He'd sabotaged his own career through his temper and his inability to play at the political games of the Ruling Families. After a particularly spectacular blow up with an Aristocra of the Second Family, he'd been shunted aside to this quiet planet where nothing ever happened. Still, he was an excellent commander and promising young officers were often sent to serve under his command for a time. Thrawn had always suspected this was partly so that they could learn from his methods and partly so that they could learn from his mistakes. For the hundredth time since he had been promoted to captain and given command of the _Springhawk_, he promised himself that he would not make the same mistakes He would do whatever it took and play whatever games the Ruling Families asked him to, He would reach High Command, no matter what the cost.

He turned his attention back to the matter at hand as he threaded his way through the corridors and made his way back to his small office. As far as he could tell, he had three options: he could execute Chiara, as the commander had suggested, he could hold her prisoner for the rest of her life, or he could trust her. He sighed wearily as his office door slid shut behind him and he sat down behind his desk. _I doubt we could hold her long term, even if we wanted to_, Thrawn thought. _She undoubtedly has other skills which haven't come up, yet_. Yet he didn't get the sense that she was deliberately hiding anything from him. It was as if it didn't occur to her that her abilities were anything unusual or noteworthy.

He opened his desk drawer and took out her lightsaber, turning it over in his hands. She had been wearing it openly on her belt when they pulled her from her wrecked fighter. Perhaps she was accustomed to being recognized as a Jedi and for the abilities which that title entailed, simply from people seeing her weapon. He traced a finger over the intricate runes that had been painstaking carved into the handle. They were arranged in a ring around the top of the hilt, then ran artistically down around the handgrip in a spiral pattern.

Thrawn held the weapon at arm's length and pressed the activation button. A blue blade appeared with a distinctive snap-hiss. Experimentally, he spun the blade in a small circle. This wasn't a weapon of death or destruction, he decided, it was an elegant tool for protection. When Chiara had first shown him the blade, he had doubted her assertion that it could be used for deflecting energy fire because he hadn't believed that anyone could have fast enough reactions. After their sparring match, he was no longer certain of that.

As he closed down the blade, he noticed that the activation stud was the only part of the weapon to be completely devoid of decoration. Upon closer study, he found that the stud itself was meticulously shaped, indicating that the lack of embellishment was deliberate. The deliberation of the act seemed to indicate that the maker had considered the use of the activation stud to be an undesirable event, almost as if they believed that situations should be resolved without resorting to force.

The more Thrawn studied the unusual weapon, the more it seemed to him that it was an artistic statement, rather than a militaristic one. Everything about the design and use of the weapon spoke of the utmost respect for and desire to preserve life. It was a tool with which a Jedi could create peace. Turning the hilt over in his hands, he considered. If what she had told him of their extensive training practices and indoctrination from an early age, were these Jedi truly a threat? Yes, their powers were dangerous and could be turned to great wrong, but if their actions were dictated by their Code, was there really any danger?

Thrawn set the lightsaber on his desk and steepled his fingers under his ching, closing his eyes. Did he really need to judge the entire Jedi Order, or was it just this one Jedi? If he asked for her word that she would not give up the coordinates of Chiss space to the Jedi Council, could he trust her to keep that word? He thought back over the time they had spent together since she was brought aboard the Springhawk. She had been honest with him from the beginning: in fact, he could remember her offering to give him a list of her Jedi skills on their first meeting. And there was something open and artless about her manner that invited trust. He glanced back down at the lightsaber, suddenly feeling certain that he knew who had spent so much time in crafting such an exquisite weapon. With that knowledge, he reached his decision.


	11. Chapter 11

AN: Happy Star Wars day, and May the Fourth be with you!

Thanks for the favorite, cycloneozgirl. Welcome aboard!

* * *

**Chapter 11**

The door chime beeped gently, calling Chiara back from her meditations. By the time she had brought herself fully back to consciousness and opened her eyes, a pair of black boots had appeared in front of her. She looked up to find Thrawn standing just inside her door, watching her silently. Her lightsaber, she noted, was hanging from his belt. She could tell by his face and his sense in the Force that he had come to some decision. She unfolded her legs and stood in a smooth, practiced motion

"Good afternoon, Captain," she greeted him. "Please, have a seat." She seated herself on the lower bunk, leaving the more comfortable chair at the table for him.

Thrawn unclipped her lightsaber as he sat down, turning it over in his hands. "Did you make this weapon yourself?" he asked.

"I did," she answered, wondering where this was going. "Making a lightsaber is part of the Initiate Trials. That one is actually my second lightsaber, though. The first one was destroyed quite some time ago."

"What does the inscription say?"

"The inscription has two parts. The beginning is a slightly modified version of the Code, which says, 'Peace over anger. Honor over hate. Strength over fear.' The second part..." she trailed off, swallowing a lump in her throat. "The second part is a reminder. It's the names of those who lost their lives needlessly because of my pride and stubbornness."

Thrawn looked at her in surprise. "What happened?" he asked.

She looked away. "I was young and headstrong. I had just taken my first Padawan and wanted to prove to her that I was a capable Jedi." A pained look flickered across her face. "Her name is the first on that list. That mission should have been relatively routine- it was just a territorial dispute between two races that shared the same planet. I convinced the Pash'an to meet with the Dargeth, who were the aggressors in the conflict, shortly after I arrived. They had been too afraid to meet with them without a Jedi there to mediate. Even once I got there, they were reluctant. It turned out that they had good cause to be; the meeting turned out to be an ambush. Nearly half of the Pash'an delegation were slaughtered before I could get them out." She could still hear the stutter of blasterfire and the explosions that had surrounded her on that terrible day. "My Padawan was killed as we were retreating. She was only 12 years old. Eventually, a resolution was found for the dispute, but there was no need for so much bloodshed and meaningless death."

"And your first lightsaber, it was destroyed during the battle?"

Chiara gave him a pained smile and shook her head. "No. I destroyed it, myself. When that mission was over, I couldn't go back to the Temple to face the Council. I felt like I was a complete failure as a Jedi and that I didn't deserve to be part of the Order. I spent several months wandering the galaxy with no real purpose until my former Master came and found me. I was fully expecting him to judge me for my failure, but I told him what happened, he just asked me what I had learned from my mistake. I'll never forget what he told me. 'The point of being a Jedi is not that we never fall, Jedi Matao. The point is that we learn from our mistakes that we may avoid repeating them again.' Eventually, he convinced me that I could still be a Jedi and to go back with him to the Temple."

"And that is when you made this lightsaber?"

"Not exactly. I spent four years at the Temple, studying the Force and learning to overcome my pride. I actually refused to even touch a lightsaber for two full years. Eventually, one of the Masters pointed out to me that making a new lightsaber should be an exercise in demonstrating what I had learned from my years of study and a resolution to never make those same mistakes. It took me another 6 months after that to come up with a design that I felt reflected what I had learned. Once I built this lightsaber, I spent some time studying the more defensive lightsaber forms so that I would be better equipped to defend those around me if I ever found myself in an attack again."

"Did you take another Padawan after that?"

"No, not for another 30 years. I realized that I had a lot left to learn of the Force before I was ready to teach and guide a Padawan. Training a Padawan is in many ways a test of a Jedi's connection to and understanding of the Force. Although they are quite young, the questions they ask can be very insightful. It takes a great deal of experience and knowledge to be able to adequately teach them about the depths and insight of the Force."

Thrawn studied the lightsaber for a moment, clearly absorbing what she had said. Finally, he looked up and met her eyes. "I think I finally understand you, Jedi Master Chiara Matao, but I cannot judge your entire Order simply by meeting one individual. However, if you will give me your word that you will not divulge the location or details of the Chiss to your Republic, I will take you at your word and allow you to return as we had originally agreed."

Chiara nodded solemnly. "I will not betray your trust, Captain, nor will I share any details of my time here with the Council or with the Republic. I will not seek to return to your territory, nor will I take up arms against you or your people. I swear it upon my honor as a Jedi."

"I thank you for your promise," Thrawn said, getting to his feet and heading for the door. "You are free to move about this complex, again. I will see you this evening for the language lesson and I will begin teaching you Minnisiat, as you requested."

Chiara watched him go, a wave of relief sweeping through her. _That is a truly exceptional man_, she decided. She was pretty sure that most people who heard about the Jedi for the first time as they were now would feel threatened by them. She could see how easy it would be to mislabel them as a danger. The only reason the Republic had accepted them was because of the way they gradually evolved from a simple philosophical group into what they were today. Although Thrawn had clearly been alarmed by the idea of the Jedi, he had reserved judgment while he observed, thought and evaluated. Especially in the Republic, these days, that sort of objective thinking was become quite a rarity. Looking back over the last two days, she no longer found herself wishing that she could go back and prevent herself from accompanying Thrawn to the training session. Yes, it had been a stressful, but she had also had the opportunity to observe Thrawn more closely and learn something about the way he thought and reacted. She was a bit surprised to find that she was looking forward to continuing to get to know him better.


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Thanks for following, Kinners!

* * *

**Chapter 12  
**

Chiara sat with her brown furrowed in concentration, examining the hologame before her. Her instinct was to move her pawn to threaten his commanding piece, but that was probably exactly what he was expecting her to do. Instead, she moved one of her defenders in from the side to box his principal attacker in.

"Excellent. You are starting to develop quite an affinity for the strategies _ch'etecisci_," Thrawn complimented her in Cheunh.

"Not that it does me much good," she answered drily in in Minnisiat. After a month of intensive study, she still couldn't pronounce the complex Chiss language correctly. Thankfully, it was much easier to get her vocal chords to cooperate with the sounds of Minnisiat. "I'm beginning to think that I will never win against you."

"I haven't lost a match in over 10 years," he told her, making his next move.

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," she murmured. She noted that at least he said this without the air or superiority that he had seemed to constantly wear around her when she first arrived. Ever since he found out about her abilities as a Jedi, his attitude towards her had undergone a marked (and welcome) change. For a while, there had been a subtle tension that lingered in their every interaction, but even that had gradually worn off as he seemed to relax and trust her.

Despite his praise of her improving grasp of the game, it didn't take much longer for Thrawn to claim victory. He glanced at the wall chrono as he keyed off the game. "A shipment arrived from Csilla today that included _nahn'bar_. I believe they should be finished preparing it about now. Would you like to stop by the mess and try some before we return to my office? It is one of my favorite dishes."

"Sounds interesting, and I could do with a snack."

"How is your translation coming?" Thrawn asked as they headed for the mess. They were both working on translating a poem from Cheunh into Basic, with the intention of comparing their translations once they finished to see how closely they lined up.

"I'm a bit stumped by the third to last stanza, but it's coming."

"Yes, the syntax in that line is a bit challenging. It does not come out well in Basic, either," Thrawn observed.

Chiara glanced at him in surprise as they entered the mess hall. "You already finished it?" She had spent almost the entire day working on it, whereas he couldn't have spent more than a few hours, given his duties.

A hint of a smile touched his lips. "I have one line yet to finish."

She shook her head in amazement. "I cannot believe how quickly you have picked Basic up. It's nothing short of remarkable."

Thrawn merely shrugged as they reached the serving station. It was, Chiara noted, quite bare looking. She stared at the labels on the handful of remaining dishes. "Ummm, am I missing something or do none of these say '_nahn'bar'_?"

"You are correct," he said. "It would seem that they either finished sooner than I expected and it is already all gone or there was a delay in preparing it. Why don't you sit down while I ask?"

Thrawn reappeared from the kitchen a few minutes later, only partly successful. "There was only one bowl left and I had to pull rank to get it," he said as he sat down next to her, his eyes glittering with amusement.

Chiara laughed. "That's not considered abusing your power?"

"Under any other circumstance, it might be. We can't have you returning to the Republic without tasting one of the finest delicacies Csilla has to offer, though, can we?" He produced a second bowl and began dividing the _nahn'bar _between them, then slid one bowl over to her. Chiara sniffed at it. It appeared to be some sort of berry, swimming in a creamy red sauce. She spooned one up and lifted it to her mouth. Her eyes widened a bit at the tangy sweetness that exploded across her tongue.

"Wow, this really is quite good," she said after she had swallowed. "I was beginning to think that everything you Chiss eat was overspiced."

"Not everything," he said, giving her a rare smile. "Of all the things I miss from Csilla, I may miss _nahn'bar_ the most."

"Really?" she asked. "Not your family or your home?"

"I do see my brother from time to time," he pointed out. "And my home is here, for now."

They ate in silence for a moment, savoring the intense flavors of the berries. After a moment, Thrawn spoke. "You have been here for some time, now. What do you miss about your home?"

Chiara shook her head. "I'm a Jedi, I don't really have a home. Well, I suppose you could say that the Temple is home, but I've hardly been for more than a day or two here and there over the last ten yers. There's always some crisis or other that needs to be resolved. I've tried to tell the Council that we really should be given periods of rest and designated time to spend at the Temple to meditate and study the Force, but they feel that our duties to the people of the Republic are more important."

"That does not sound particularly balanced or in your best interests. Even warriors who serve at the farthest reaches of the Ascendancy are granted leave every few years to return to Csilla. How do you avoid becoming burned out?" he asked.

"It's not easy, that's for sure, especially when you've been doing it for as long as I have. In some ways, it's actually been kind of nice to be here and not have to go rushing off to prevent a civil war," she admitted.

"I would imagine so. If not home, then what do you miss most about your region of space?"

"The stars," she said without even having to think about it.

"The stars?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes. Doesn't it ever amaze you that we spend our entire lives traveling between stars and we use them to plot our charts and courses, yet we never take time to actually appreciate them for their beauty? I've always enjoyed sitting out and watching them at night, even when I was in the midst of a messy negotiation. I haven't gotten to see them since I arrived."

"That can easily be corrected," he said, finishing his _nahn'bar_ and standing up. "Come with me."

* * *

He lead her outside onto the large, grassy expanse between buildings. They sat down with their backs against a large rock formation near the center and looked up at the stars. After a few minutes, Thrawn started pointing out some of the constellations to her, teaching her their Cheunh names. He was being so extraordinarily kind that she didn't even mind when he chuckled at how badly she butchered the name of one constellation. She was pretty sure that was actually the first time she had ever heard him laugh.

If any of the sentries who passed by thought it was odd that one of their captains was out stargazing with an alien, they didn't give any sign of it. They sat for several hours, enjoying the cool evening breeze and the nocturnal sounds of the local animal life. Eventually, Chiara noticed that Thrawn's glowing eyes were beginning to dim, which she took for a sign that he was tired and suggested they go in. She was a bit surprised when she got back to her quarters and found that her chrono read 0130. _Poor Thrawn is in for a short night, _she thought as she climbed into bed. She was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: Thanks for the follow, al'verde!

I hope you all enjoy the ending of this chapter as much as I did. There was definitely a lot of snickering going on when I wrote it. As always, reviews are welcomed and very much wanted!

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**Chapter 13**

A few hours later, Chiara was startled awake by someone shaking her shoulder. She sat up suddenly, nearly striking her head on the bunk above her. "Thrawn?" she said, blinking at the glowing eyes that hovered above her in the darkness.

"Get dressed. I've been ordered to take a team of scientists to the other side of the planet in the _Springhawk_. You're coming with me," he told her.

"What time is it?"

"It's nearly 0700. Some of us don't have the luxury of sleeping all day." Even without being able to see him in the darkness, she could picture the sarcastic half-smile on his face that normally accompanied that tone.

"Yeah, well, someone kept me out late," she retorted, sliding out from under the blankets. She grabbed her Jedi robes out of the drawer and disappeared into the 'fresher. Thrawn had provided her with several sets of clothing, since she had arrived with nothing but the clothes on her back, but she still preferred her robes and usually wore them whenever they were clean.

She emerged from the 'fresher a few minutes later, still braiding her hair. "I take it that this is more than just a day trip?" she asked when she noticed that Thrawn had already packed her clothes into a small bag that was now laying on her bed.

"Yes," he said, starting out the door. "It will be a few days, at least. The sensors picked up some new species of animals that the scientists want to investigate. If I have learned anything about our science team, it is that there is no such thing as a day trip with them."

* * *

They set down on a fairly large, tropical island that was about half way around the planet from the base. Chiara busied herself with helping Thrawn's crew establish a camp while the scientists headed out into the woods to check on the sensors and set up a few more. Although most of the Chiss at the base still seemed to dislike having her around, she found that Thrawn's crew tended to be a bit more tolerant of her.

Thrawn hadn't said anything to Chiara about not leaving the camp before he disappeared, so she wandered around a bit after the camp was set up. She was mindful of the fact that she had no weapons and knew very little about the native species' on the planet and didn't stray too far. She relaxed in the sun beside a small stream and watched as two small, brightly colored amphibians played in the shallows. She smiled at their antics. _You know, I really could get used to this place,_ she thought. _Rushing around and dealing with all the bureaucracy of the Senate and the political corruption is not exactly my cup of tea._ And it only seemed to be getting worse.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of voices approaching. A trio of scientists emerged into the small clearing by the stream, their eyes trained upwards on the trees. "I think I see a nest up there," one of them said, pointing to a particularly massive tree. The lowest branch was 20 feet off the ground. "Do we have anything that can reach that high?"

They were still discussing how to get up there when Chiara walked over. "Allow me," she said. She enjoyed the astonished look on their faces as she used the Force to leap into the air and catch the lowest branch. She swung there for a moment before pulling herself up and starting to climb.

"Be careful," one of the scientists called up after her. Chiara rolled her eyes as she jumped across a small gap to catch the next branch. It didn't take her long to find the nest they were talking about. It appeared to be made out of a combination of mud and sticks. Four large, brightly speckled eggs occupied it.

"Um, did you want me to try to bring down the whole nest, or do you just want one of the eggs?" she called down.

"Just one of the eggs, if you please," the same scientist who had cautioned her answered.

Aware that the scent of another species was often enough to cause many of the avian species she was familiar with abandon their nests, Chiara carefully used the Force to levitate one of the eggs out of the nest. She was about half way down and still 35 feet in the air when one of the scientists shouted a warning. She looked up in time to see what she assumed was the mother bird swooping down at her, talons outstretched. She barely managed to get her arm up in time to protect her face. The talons tore through her robe and into her flesh, sending searing pain shooting up her arm. She slammed her arm into the tree, stunning the bird momentarily. Bird still clinging to her arm, she jumped off the branch she was on, aiming for another one about ten feet below her. Wings flapped in her face and she jerked her head back just in time to avoid a razor sharp beak that snapped at her. The movement threw off her aim and she missed her landing. She managed to throw her free arm over the branch to halt her fall, still clinging to the egg.

Thankfully, the bird let go at that moment, taking to the air in preparation for another attack. Just as it started to attack, folding its' wings and going into a dive, Chiara used the Force to hurl it backwards. It hit the tree with a dull thud and plummeted to the ground. She threw her bleeding arm over the branch and tried to pull herself back up, but her muscles didn't want to respond correctly. _Oh, no_, she thought. _The talons must have some sort of venom in them. _She glanced down, checking to make sure she had a clear path to the forest floor, then let go. She landed hard, her attempt at rolling to disperse some of her forward motion turning into more of a nosedive into the leaves that covered the ground.

She saw two of the scientists grappling with the bird, which had apparently recovered from its' fall, trying to wrestle some sort of restraint onto it. "Careful," she said, the words coming out rather slurred. "The talons are poisonous." And with that, she passed out.

* * *

"And why was she in the tree in the first place?" Thrawn demanded as Chaf'alm'itrina checked Chiara's vitals.

The scientist shifted uncomfortably. "She was retrieving an egg from the nest for us. We didn't expect the adult to return so soon-"

"And you were wrong," Thrawn bit out, interrupting him. "Your incompetency could easily have cost her life. In the future, you will follow proper protocol and have warriors present _before_ you attempt to approach any of the indigenous species. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Dismissed," Thrawn snapped, turning back to Chiara's unconscious form. "How is she, Medic Chaf'alm'itrina?" he asked in a softer tone.

"She seems to be stable," the medic answered, examining the wounds on her arm. "As far as I can tell, the venom seems to cause paralysis and loss of consciousness. It doesn't seem to be affecting any of her major organs."

"So this species simply incapacitates its prey so it can have a leisurely meal. Charming," he said drily.

"It would seem so, sir. Since they were able to capture one, I believe I can synthesize an antivenin, but that will take time. I suspect it will actually wear off in a day or two."

"Very well, Medic. Alert me if there is any change in her condition," Thrawn said, heading for his quarters. He wasn't quite sure why the whole situation upset him so much. It wasn't the negligence shown by the scientists, he knew. This particular group was quite young and tended to forget to follow procedure in their scientific fervor: none of their previous misadventures had provoked such a strong reaction from him. It wasn't because someone had been injured, either: If it had been any of his warriors, he would have simply attributed it to the hazards of the job.

_It's because it happened to her,_ Thrawn realized as he entered his quarters and sat down at the table. But why should it bother him more that a non-Chiss had been hurt than one of his own crew? Unbidden, a picture of her face sprang to his mind and he saw her eyes light up as she laughed at him. He groaned and put his head in his hands as the fact that he had been denying to himself for nearly a week finally struck home. It was the reason that he had split the last of the _nahn'bar _with her even though he usually refused to share it with anyone and stayed up half the night stargazing with her. It was why he hadn't been able to get her delicate face out of his mind even when he had finally gone to bed, last night.

He was falling in love with an outsider.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

When Chiara woke up, she was lying in medbay with a splitting headache and no idea of how she had gotten there. When she tried to sit up, she couldn't quite get her muscles to cooperate. Her arm was throbbing, too.

Chaf'alm'itrina appeared beside her bed. "Don't try to move too much, yet. The effects of the venom are still wearing off."

"Venom?" she asked, confused.

He frowned at her. "I'm sorry, I can't understand you. It must be affecting your speech, as well."

"What is affecting my speech? What happened?"

Chaf'alm'itrina ignored her and picked up his comlink. "Captain? She's awake." He shook his head. "I'm not sure, sir. It seems to be affecting her speech and I can't understand her."

Thrawn appeared within minutes and crossed to her bedside, a frown creasing his forehead. "How are you feeling?" he asked in Basic.

"Aside from a massive headache and the fact that none of my muscles want to work correctly, not too bad. Oh, and my arm hurts. What happened?" she answered. She frowned as her words slurred together. Chaf'alm'itrina was right, she definitely was having trouble enunciating, even in Basic.

Thrawn turned to Chaf'alm'itrina. "Her arm hurts, she has a headache and her muscle control has not fully returned," he translated for him. "She also doesn't remember what happened."

Chaf'alm'itrina nodded. "That's to be expected. I suspect that the muscle control will continue to improve as the venom wears off. The headache is probably a side-effect, as well. Do you want something for the pain?" The last bit was directed at her.

She shook her head. Or, at least, she tried to, it was a bit more of a wobble. "No, s'not that bad." She heard Thrawn say something else, but she was already falling asleep again.

* * *

When she woke up again, her head was clearer and she was actually able to sit up on the first try. She was surprised to see that Thrawn was sitting next to her, tapping away at a datapad. "Thrawn?"

He looked up and gave her a relieved smile. "I presume that you are feeling better from the fact that you can actually move?" he asked, setting down the datapad.

"Much better. Remind me not to go climbing trees around here, again," she tried a rueful smile, but gave up when she felt the corners of her lips wobbling.

"Then you remember what happened?"

"Yes, it's coming back to me now. Who has ever heard of a bird with venomous talons?" she complained. "That's just overkill."

"It could have killed you. Are you always so reckless?"

She shot him a mock glare. "I was trying to help, in case you hadn't noticed. How was I supposed to know you have such nasty critters on this planet?"

Just then, one of the medics came in. She glance at Chiara. "If she is awake, she might as well go back to her quarters," she said frostily. "The worst of the venom has worn off and there is no reason for her to stay here."

Thrawn frowned at her and looked like he was about to make a scathing reply. "That sounds good to me," Chiara jumped in before Thrawn could say anything. "I'd prefer a little peace and quiet, anyway." She slid off the bed and nearly fell as her legs buckled under her. Thrawn caught her against his chest, steadying her.

He looked down at her. "Reckless," he repeated.

"Umm," Chiara said. She extricated herself from his arms, wondering if the sudden tingling she felt was another side effect of the venom. At least this time, her legs held. "I'm fine, really. I just got up a little too fast." Thrawn just raised one blue-black eyebrow, clearly not believing her. "Okay, okay. I'm not fine, but I'm not in any danger, it's just going to take a little while for the venom to finish wearing off. As long as I don't try anything that requires dexterity, it's not a problem."

"There could be other reactions or side effects that haven't shown themselves, yet," he pointed out. "You shouldn't be unsupervised."

"Then you supervise me. I'm not going to stick around with Ms. Hoth over there," she said, indicating the female medic.

He studied her for a moment. "If you wish."

His admission caught her off guard. "Wait, what?" she asked.

"If you wish, we will return to your quarters and I will stay with you."

She blinked at him. That wasn't the answer she had been expecting. "Ahh, okay," was the only thing she could think of to say. She headed for the door, trying not to wobble too much.

They made it to her quarters without any major incidents. Thrawn had steadied her elbow once or twice when she momentarily lost her balance. His touch felt electric, but not unpleasant. _That is a weird side effect_, she decided as walked into her cramped quarters and sat down on the narrow bunk.

"You don't have to stay," she told him as folded the table out from the wall and settled in to one of the chairs, pulling his datapad back out. "I'll be in a healing trance for several hours, at least. That's pretty boring to watch."

"I am quite capable of occupying myself," he told her.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she said, rolling her eyes and settling back on her bunk.

* * *

Thrawn tried to read the reports from the scientific teams for a few minutes, but he couldn't quite focus. He sighed and pushed the datapad away. What was he doing here, anyway? He should have just ordered Chaf'alm'itrina to stay after his normal shift ended to monitor Chiara. He glanced at her, knowing full and well why he had chosen to stay with her. Now that he had finally acknowledged his attraction to her, he found himself wanting to be near her. He knew it would never work: she was a Jedi, he was a Chiss. She was only here for a limited amount of time and once she returned to her Republic, he would never see her again. He knew he should avoid her, but she was like a magnet, pulling him in closer. The feel of her body against his when she had nearly fallen and he caught her-

Thrawn shook his head. He shouldn't entertain those sorts of thoughts. His eyes flicked to her face, so peaceful and relaxed as she slept (or whatever Jedi thing it was that she was doing), making his decision. As soon as they were finished here and he had dropped the scientists off at the base and made his reports, he was taking her back to the Republic. The sooner he was rid of her, the better.

Resolved, he picked up his datapad and stood, heading for the door. He stopped just inside, glancing back at her. If he really was going to take her home in the next few days, what was the harm in enjoying the little bit of time that he had left with her? He went back to the table and sat down, crossing his arms and settling in to watch over her.


	15. Chapter 15

AN: Thanks for the follow, GabrielaTJ!

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Chiara stretched her muscles gently as she woke up. Whatever that venom was, it left behind a fierce burning sensation once the loss of muscle control faded. She was still staring at the bunk above her, checking to make sure that all of her muscles were working correctly, when a soft noise to her left made her turn her head. She sat up and stared in surprise: Thrawn was still sitting at the table, sound asleep. One hand rested next to his datapad and his head was leaning back against the wall behind him. She studied him for a moment, wondering if she she should wake him. She couldn't decide if it was flattering, creepy or sweet that he had been worried enough about her to fall asleep in her room. She slid off her bunk and crossed quietly to the 'fresher. She was relieved to see that Thrawn was awake when she came back out, saving her from having to wake him.

"You look like you are feeling better," he observed.

"I am, thank you. How are you feeling? That chair can't be comfortable to sleep in. You could have at least used the other bunk," she pointed out.

He stood up and stretched, working the kinks out of his muscles. "I didn't intend to fall asleep."

"Right," she said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I, umm, I'm sorry for being a bit rude, yesterday. I don't think I quite knew what I was saying, but that's still not an excuse."

"There is no need to apologize, you were clearly still disoriented from the venom," Thrawn assured her.

"Thanks. Well, I'm going to go have Chaf'alm'itrina take this bandage off. I'll see you later."

"Stay with a group of warriors and try not to be reckless if you go out," he called after her as she headed for medbay.

* * *

Chiara spent most of the day with the scientists and their warrior escort. They had been quite surprised to find her up and about less than a day after her run-in with the bird, but they eventually gave up questioning her about her speedy recovery when she wouldn't go into detail. She played with one of the tiny amphibians she had watched playing in the shallows of the stream the day before and used the Force to calm a small, furry tree-dwelling mammal so that the scientists could catch it for study. It felt so good to be out just enjoying a planet, instead of trying to save it from interstellar war.

Thrawn came out to check on their progress part way through the afternoon. By then, they had captured half a dozen new species for study, but were still hunting for whatever it was that their sensors had picked up that instigated this trip. Chiara had gathered that it was some sort of large reptile, but even the scientists didn't seem to know much more than that, at this point. Thrawn conversed with the chief scientist for several minutes before moving to join her.

"Walk with me," he invited, leading the way into the forest. She fell into step beside him, wondering at the mix of emotions she could sense roiling off of him. After a few moments, he spoke. "I believe that, once this mission is over, it will be time for you to return home. Your company has been beneficial, but you have duties which you must return to, as do I. Things are only likely to continue to get busier as the colonization of this planet approaches and this is likely to be as good a time as any to return you to your region of space."

"Thank you," she said around the lump that had suddenly risen in her throat. She wondered at the wave of disappointment that was building inside her. Had she really gotten so attached to this place so quickly? But, then, she seldom got to spend more than a week or two in any given place and that was always filled with the business of whatever mission she was currently working. Was it really that surprising that she had enjoyed having time to build relationships and spend time just being with the Force? He was right, though, she had her duties. _I am a servant of the Force and of the Republic, _she told herself. "I've enjoyed my time here and getting to know you and your people. It is time for me to go back, though."

"My plan is to drop you and your fighter in orbit around the planet where you came from. Your comlink is still functional, so you should be able to call for a retrieval once we have left," he told her.

She made a face. "If I never have to see the inside of that cockpit again, it'll be too soon. But I suppose you're right, that's the best way to get me back without you having to land on the planet. It'd be a bit hard to keep people from finding out about the Chiss, if we did that."

They walked on in silence for a few minutes. Chiara was so wrapped up in her disappointment at the idea of going back to the Republic that she almost didn't notice the tingle of danger she was getting until it was too late. She heard a loud hissing from behind them and whirled around. Thrawn drew his charric and turned in near unison with her.

"I think we found that big reptile that your scientists are looking for," Chiara said quietly to Thrawn, not daring to look away from the creature that was slowly advancing on them. It stood nearly two and a half meters tall and was covered in hard, bony ridges of armor. It had a set of wicked-looking teeth and equally deadly claws. Thrawn leveled his charric at the hulking beast and fired a shot right between its' eyes. It bellowed in rage and pain, but seemed mostly to be unhurt. "Oh, that was brilliant. Who's the reckless one, now?" she quipped.

"Shut up and run," Thrawn snapped as the beast charged.

Chiara laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation as they tore through the undergrowth, trying to keep ahead of the bellowing predator. "Does everything here try to kill you?" she called to Thrawn as they ran.

"No, but you seem to excel at finding all the creatures that do," he retorted breathlessly.

"Do you think he will get tired of following us eventually?"

"We can only hope," he panted.

Suddenly, they burst out of the trees and into the open. Chiara skidded to a stop, throwing out one arm to halt Thrawn, too. Before them, the ground dropped away in a sheer cliff for nearly 300 feet.

"Now what do we do?" Chiara asked as the creature thundered closer.

"I suppose we could climb a tree," Thrawn suggested.

"Not going to work, did you see those claws? I'm pretty sure that thing can climb."

Thrawn leaned out and looked down at the weathered cliff face. "There's no way for us to climb this; it's too smooth."

"I guess that leaves us one choice. Do you trust me?"

Thrawn eyed her warily. "Yes, why?"

"Because we're going to have to jump."

"We could never survive that fall!" Thrawn said, clearly thinking she was insane.

"Thrawn, think about it," she said as the beast crashed through the trees uncomfortably close by. "I can levitate things with the Force. I'll catch us."

He glanced over his shoulder. The reptile was almost on top of them. A look of resignation crossed his face. "We really don't have any other choice, do we?"

"On three, then. One. Two. Three." They took one running step and jumped out from the cliff face. The wind whipped her hair all around her as the ground rushed up to meet them. It was exhilarating. Chiara stretched out with the Force, taking hold of Thrawn and slowing their falls. She landed with her knees bent and arms out stretched for balance, allowing the excess movement to translate into a somersault in the soft grass. Thrawn landed a bit less gracefully, tumbling forward and ending up in a heap next to her.

"That never gets old," Chiara laughed breathlessly, laying where she had landed and running her fingers through the warm grass.

Thrawn sat up and shot her an incredulous look. "Do you do that often?"

"Not really. It's hard to find this nice of a place to go cliff-jumping. No outcroppings of rocks, nice soft landing."

Thrawn shook his head and stood up, brushing bits of grass off his uniform. "You're insane."

"Oh, come on. You didn't enjoy that even just a little?"

"No," he said emphatically, offering her a hand up.

"You have no sense of adventure," she teased him as she accepted his help up.

"On the contrary, I enjoy it as long as it does not include recklessly putting my life in danger," he said, releasing her hand and stepping back.

Chiara's hand tingled and she suddenly found herself uncharacteristically speechless as she watched him trying to get his bearings. She ran a hand through her tangled hair, trying to pull out the twigs that had gotten stuck there during their mad dash through the forest. One stick in particular had gotten so tangled in her hair during their brief flight that she wondered if she was going to have to cut off that lock of hair to get it out.

"Here, let me help you," Thrawn said when he noticed her struggle. She froze as he carefully unwound her hair from around the twig and tucked the strand behind her ear. He ran his fingers through the rest of her hair, pulling out a few leaves and other bits of debris. His touch sent shivers up her spine. She half turned to watch him as he finished working a knot out of her dark tresses. His skin tone was a bit deeper blue than normal, probably due to the exertion, but the shade complimented his eyes perfectly, somehow.

_Oh, stop it! _She thought desperately as she realized where that line of thinking was taking her. _You're a Jedi! Attachment is forbidden. Besides, he's sending you home in a few days. _Home. She had never felt more unenthusiastic about that word in her entire life.

* * *

It took them most of the day to make their way back to the _Springhawk_, but they made it without running into any more of the more vicious indigenous species. Thrawn had lost his comlink somewhere between their encounter with the reptile and when they got to the bottom of the cliff, so they couldn't just call for the _Springhawk_ to pick them up. It wasn't an unpleasant walk, though, and Thrawn didn't seem to mind anymore than Chiara did that they were forced to spend such a long stretch of time in each others company. When they finally made it back to the camp, it was just starting to get dark and Thrawn's second-in-command was beginning to organize a search party. Everyone seemed quite relieved to see their captain safely returned and none-the-worse for wear after their misadventure.

From what Chiara gathered from listening to the scientists over dinner, she and Thrawn had accidentally blundered into the creatures nest, which explained its' territorial behavior and violent reaction to being shot by Thrawn. They had heard the racket and found the nest unguarded when they came to investigate and had captured one of the juvenile reptiles from the nest for study. Despite not having eaten since breakfast, her appetite vanished abruptly when she heard this. If they had obtained a live specimen, the scientists would probably just take it back to the base with them for further study. That meant their mission here was likely at an end and she wasn't even going to have a few days left here to adjust to the idea of going back to the Republic. She was leaving here, and she had given Thrawn her word that she would never come back.

Chiara excused herself from the table, dumping her barely-touched meal and heading for the exit. She didn't notice that Thrawn's eyes followed her out.


	16. Chapter 16

AN: Thanks for the favorite, cousinitt!

Okay, everyone, hang on to your hats, things are about to get a little more exciting. :-) Please review!

* * *

**Chapter 16  
**

Chiara glanced at the wall chrono back in her quarters on the base, wondering what had woken her. It was 0500 on what was likely to be her last day in Chiss space. The _Springhawk _had returned from its' expedition to the other side of the planet the day before and Thrawn had sounded like he didn't plan on wasting any time before he took her back to the Republic. She lay in her bunk with a hollow feeling in her stomach. With her departure looming, she was realizing just how much she didn't want to leave.

Something scraped against her door and Chiara felt a flicker of warning from the Force. Responding without thinking, she leapt out bed and flattened herself against the wall just as the door slid open. Her brain barely had time to register that the intruder wasn't a Chiss before she was in motion. She brought a stiffened hand down on the alien's wrist, knocking a wicked-looking hadngun from its grip. It snarled at her and wrapped furry fingers around her wrist, trying to pin her to the wall. She locked both hands around his wrists in return and used her leverage to flip the alien over her and into the table. The force of the impact stunned him, but not for long. He produced a vibroblade as he got up and came at her again.

She let the Force guide her as she blocked the attacks, trying to keep the deadly blade at bay. Oh, how she wished she had her lightsaber! Improvising, she hooked one leg around the alien's ankles, sweeping his feet out from under him. She cursed under her breath as he fell towards her instead of away. She tried to get out of the way, but couldn't quite move fast enough. The vibroblade caught her mid-thigh and opened a 6-inch gash down her thigh. Ignoring the searing pain, she reached out with the Force to call the discarded handgun to her and shot the alien at point-blank range before he could get up.

She peered out into the corridor and caught the distant sound of gunfire. Clearly, there was some sort of attack underway. Her thoughts went to Thrawn. Where would he be, at this early hour? She decided to start with his office; even if he wasn't there, she would be able to pick up her lightsaber, which she knew was still in his desk drawer.

Chiara made it to his office with little resistance, encountering only a handful of the aliens, all of whom she picked off easily with a few well-placed shots. Out in the brighter lights of the corridors, it was easier to see just what sort of aliens they were. Each one was nearly two meters tall with a muscular, feline build and covered with short, striped fur. They reminded her vaguely of Togorians, but the facial structure was wrong. Clearly, they were some other species she had never seen before.

She paused outside Thrawn's office, listening. She didn't hear anything from inside, but she doubted that meant anything with Thrawn. She keyed the door and hit the ground as his charric spit blue fire through the space she had just occupied.

"Thrawn, it's me! Hold your fire," she called through the door, not daring to move.

"Chiara?" he called softly back. "Get in here before more of them show up."

She bit back a groan of pain as she stood. Her leg had been bleeding pretty steadily before, but apparently her little dive had made things worse. The blotch of red on her pants was steadily growing.

"Where is my lightsaber?" she asked as she staggered through the door.

Thrawn took in her condition in one glance. "You're hurt," he said, moving to help her sit down as he keyed the door shut behind her.

"Yes, I am," she gritted out. "Now give me my lightsaber."

He hesitated for another moment before he finally retrieved it from his desk and offered it to her. "Actually, I'm going to need you to do this," she told him. "I need you to use it to cauterize my leg."

Thrawn stared at her. "You want me to do _what_?"

"Either you do this or I'm going to bleed out. I'm not going to be able to get the angle myself and I'll probably end up cutting off my leg by accident. You can do it, just be careful and use only the tip of the blade."

He hesitated for another moment, then ignited the lightsaber. He glanced at her face one more time before he touched the lightsaber tip to the gash in her leg. Despite her best efforts, a small cry of pain escaped her lips. She leaned her head back against the cool metal of the wall once he finished, drawing on the Force to suppress the pain. She felt a gentle touch on her leg and opened her eyes. Thrawn was kneeling next to her, examining his handiwork.

"That worked surprisingly well," he observed. "The bleeding stopped."

"All the same, I wouldn't recommend it," she said drily. "Do you know who these guys are?"

Thrawn shook his head as he got to his feet. "I've never seen them before and they don't match the descriptions of any of the species from this area of space."

Chiara stood and experimentally put some weight on her injured leg. _I think that will hold_, she thought as she picked up her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt. "Did you have a plan?"

"They are jamming our communications. We should try to get to Commander Ina'tin'scalin, first. He's likely to be in his quarters, on the other side of the building." Thrawn keyed the door open and peered out into the corridor. Chiara jerked him back and slapped the control to close the door just as a salvo of brilliant laser fire cut through the air.

Thrawn bit out a word that hadn't come up in their language lessons. "We're pinned down."

"You mean, you _would_ be pinned down, if you didn't have a Jedi around. Just stay behind me." She shot him a grin as she ignited her lightsaber and keyed the door open again. Blasterfire peppered the air as she stepped out into the open. She deflected the incoming bolts back at the attackers were bunched together a little ways down the hall. Within a few seconds, they all lay crumpled on the floor, taken down by their own shots that she had deflected back at them.

"I think I may have to reconsider my previous statements on the efficacy of a lightsaber," Thrawn said appreciatively. "It's this way."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Thrawn was still marveling at the speed and accuracy with which Chiara wielded her lightsaber when they rounded a corner and walked right into a large group of the invaders. Chiara tried to grab him and pull him back, but missed. He got off two shots before the nearest alien knocked the charric from his grasp. Two strong hands closed around his left wrist and twisted. He gasped in pain as he felt something snap. Abruptly, the aliens seemed to forget about him as Chiara charged in, cutting a swath through their ranks with her blade. Thrawn scooped up his charric with his good hand and joined the melee.

Once they were the only ones left standing, Chiara shot him a mock glare. "What do they teach you in Chiss military training? I always thought 'look before walking around a corner' was fairly basic."

"I must have missed that day," he said, matching her teasing tone. He knew better, of course, but he had been distracted by her stunning display of skill. He examined his wrist, feeling like an idiot. _Get it together and stop watching her, or you're going to get yourself killed,_ he chastised himself.

"Let me see," Chiara said, taking his wrist and probing it gently with sure fingers. "It's broken." She closed her eyes for a moment and the pain abruptly subsided to a dull throb.

He stared at her in amazement. "What did you just do?"

"I dampened the pain a little. It'll wear off in a few hours. I wouldn't use it too much, though, you could make the damage worse."

They continued towards the Commander's quarters, picking up half a dozen warriors along the way. Thanks to Chiara's incredible skills, they made it all the way to the section that housed the Officer's quarters without a single injury. She just concentrated on protecting them while trusting the warriors to shoot around her and take down the enemy.

That, Thrawn expected, was about to change. There was a crowd of approximately twenty aliens crowded outside the Commander's quarters, working on burning their way through the door. _How did they know where to find the Commander? _Thrawn wondered. He found it hard to believe that any of their warriors would give up the Commander's location, even under a great deal of pain.

Chiara peered around his shoulder, looking down the corridor. "Is there any other way in?" she whispered. Thrawn shook his head. She regarded him thoughtfully. "What's on the other side of these quarters?"

"More quarters," he told her, not seeing where she was going with this.

"Okay, so we go back down the last corridor and into the quarters that adjoin the Commander's and cut our way in. It'll be faster and a lot less messy."

He frowned at her. "We don't have anything to cut- Oh, your lightsaber can do that?" She nodded. "Alright, then, let's go."

It didn't take them long to backtrack and find the appropriate room. Once inside, Chiara made quick work of the back wall, carving out a sizable opening. "You'd better let him know it's us so he doesn't start shooting," she warned Thrawn as she used the Force to levitate her impromptu door out of the wall.

"Commander?" Thrawn called in Cheunh.

"Captain," the Commander said calmly, stepping to the opening, charric in hand.

"I suggest we move quickly, Sir, it won't take them much longer to get through your door."

"Yes," the commander agreed, starting through the opening. He reached for the edge of the hole to steady himself as he stepped through.

"I wouldn't do that," Chiara warned him in Minnisiat. "It hasn't cooled off, yet."

Ina'tin'scalin froze halfway through, staring at Chiara. "Captain," he said, his voice deadly cold and his eyes blazing with fury. "What is this alien doing here? And _why_ is she armed?"

Thrawn felt his mouth go dry. If he wasn't careful, the Commander might just execute them both for treason on the spot. In the midst of a battle, trials were a luxury they couldn't afford. "She is helping us, Sir," he said carefully. "She's the only reason we made it this far. She's also the one who just cut through your wall."

The Commander glanced at her, then back at Thrawn as he finished climbing through their makeshift door. "We will discuss this later," he warned Thrawn. There was a muffled thud from the Commander's quarters as the front door finally gave way.

"I suggest we run," Chiara said.

The Commanders eyes flicked to her. "A wise idea," he said, leading the way back into the corridor where the rest of the warriors waited. They took off down the hall, trying to put as much distance between them and the invaders before they realized that the Commander had escaped.

They paused just before they crossed the next corridor and the Commander peered around the corner. "There are three guards," he said. "You, draw their fire while..."

Chiara didn't let him get any farther than that. She slipped around him and launched herself at the guards, dropping all three of them before they could even bring their weapons to bear. "What?" she said innocently in response to the Commander's dumbfounded expression. "I thought we were in a hurry."

A pair of heartbeats passed before the Commander turned back to Thrawn. "We should split up. Find as many warriors as you can and meet me at the weapons bunker in twenty minutes." He glanced pointedly at Chiara. "And take her with you." He took three of the warriors and went sprinting down the corridor that Chiara had just cleared.

Thrawn turned back to Chiara, one blue-black eye brow raised. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. Were you planning on getting out of here any time soon, or were you going to wait for that group from the Commander's quarters to catch up with us?"

He just shook his head at her as he lead the way.


	18. Chapter 18

AN: Wow, Stardust585, thank you so much for the awesome reviews! I'm glad you are enjoying it. It's great to hear you think this is exactly how a younger Grand Admiral Thrawn would act, I've been trying pretty hard to keep him in character and imagine what his younger self would have been like.

Now, the question is, do I want to be evil and leave you guys in suspense for a day or two before I post the next chapter, or should I post it tonight? *insert evil grin here*

* * *

**Chapter 18  
**

By the time they met back up with the Commander, Thrawn and Chiara had gathered more than three dozen warriors. The Commander had succeeded in finding an additional 25. More trickled in while he laid out his plans to retake the base. His plan was three-fold; rescue the scientists and warriors that were currently being held in one of the storage buildings, secure the science lab to keep them from stealing any Chiss technology, and capture the invader's ship, which had landed just outside the base perimeter. Thrawn was assigned to lead the group that would be taking on the latter task. The Commander believed that the alien commander would still be on board the ship and thought there was a chance of forcing them to surrender if the commander could be captured.

The Commander handed out specially designed comlinks to the leaders of each of the three groups. Apparently, they could cut through most jamming as long as they were within a close enough range. Thrawn headed out from the bunker with two dozen warriors and Chiara close at his side. The invading ship had landed just outside of the other side of the base. Somehow, they had to get through the numerous alien troops that had been reported crawling all over the base and get to it. Thrawn paused in the shadow of the neighboring building, looking out over the open expanse of grass the intersected the compound.

"What do you think?" he asked Chiara. "Do we risk crossing the open ground, or try to go around and chance being caught between two of their raiding parties?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. This doesn't feel right. It doesn't make any sense for them to leave this area unguarded. If I were them, I would set up a couple of snipers there," she pointed at the rock formation they had sat under while stargazing only a few days before. "If they were at the top, they would be pretty well protected and they could just pick off anyone who sticks their nose out of any of these buildings. But there's no one there."

"That was my thought. It's clearly a trap."

"What are we going to do, then? They undoubtedly have another trap set for us somewhere else if we try to go around."

Thrawn gave her a deadly smile. "Spring the trap, of course. I have a few tricks should catch them off guard. And, I'm willing to wager that they have never seen a Jedi in action, before. I think they will find it... enlightening." He laid out his plan quickly. His best sharpshooters would climb onto the neighboring buildings to lay down cover fire for them while the rest of the group crossed the open area. Chiara would help provide cover for the warriors while they were exposed. He had picked up a few small explosive devices that reminded Chiara thermal detonators, which he distributed to the warriors that would be on the outer edge of their formation.

They waited a few minutes for the sharpshooters to signal that they were in position, then started across. Blasterfire erupted from three different directions, burning divots into the grass all around them. Sprinting along at full speed, Chiara deflected any of the bolts that came close enough to be a threat. She zeroed in on one group of attackers as the sharpshooters on the roofs sent answering fire at the invaders. Two of them were setting up some sort of heavy artillery gun between two buildings. Chiara pointed a hand at them, palm outwards, and used the Force to hurl them backwards into the building. They fell in a crumpled heap on the ground as she released them. Their artillery gun joined them a few seconds later.

Thrawn shook his head as he ran beside her, picking off aliens with his charric. "Remind me never to get on your bad side," he said.

"Lucky for you I've already sworn never to take up arms against the Chiss," she reminded him.

"Now," Thrawn ordered his warriors in Cheunh as they came within two hundred feet of their enemy. The warriors responded by lobbing the explosives into the enemy ranks, effectively blowing a hole through the net that they invaders were trying to catch them in. Chiara skidded to a halt as the Chiss warriors surged through the gap they had created in the enemy ranks, trying to deflect any blasterbolts that came near enough to pose a threat to the warriors. A huge group of the aliens boiled out of the building next door, all of them aiming to take down the lone Jedi that was defending the fleeing warriors. Guided by the Force and moving so quickly that her lightsaber became a blur, Chiara managed to hold them off for a few seconds, but she knew she couldn't possibly deflect as many bolts as were raining down on her. She was just trying to decide how best to disengage herself when one of the blaster bolts slipped past her defenses and struck her in the left shoulder, hurling her backwards.

"Covering fire!" Thrawn snapped as he dropped his charric to catch her. His warriors responded immediately, ceasing their flight and concentrating their fire on the aliens that had just come out of the neighboring building. He half-dragged, half-carried Chiara into the protective cover of the building. "Fall back!"

"I'm okay," she said breathlessly, recovering a bit from the shock and trying to push away from him.

"No, you're not," he said. "We need to find you somewhere to lay low until this is over."

"Thrawn, I'm fine. It's not that bad," she lied. "I can still use my other hand. Besides, you need me. I'm coming with you."

He just stared at her for a moment, still cradling her gently against his chest. "Reckless," he said softly, brushing a loose strand of hair back from her cheek. He shook his head at her. "Somehow, I think that if I did find somewhere to hide you, you would just follow me anyway."

She gave him a pained smile. "You're catching on."

Chiara closed her eyes for a moment, drawing on the Force to hold the pain of her growing list of injuries at bay. Thrawn could feel her relax in his arms and her eyes were much clearer when she opened them again. "You are an exceptional woman," he murmured. His comlink chose just that moment to chirp in his pocket, interrupting their quiet moment in the midst of the battle that raged around them. "Mitth'raw'nuruodo," he said, flicking it on.

"Captain, we've liberated the prisoners, but they seem to have realized they can't defeat us and are laying explosives throughout the buildings, instead. They're going to destroy everything," Commander Ina'tin'scalin's voice told him.

"Acknowledged. We are proceeding to their ship now. If we can capture their commander in time, perhaps we can force them to stand down and disarm the explosives," Thrawn said. "Mitth'raw'nuruodo out."

Chiara took a deep breath and stepped away from him, igniting her lightsaber. "Let's do this," she said quietly.

Thrawn left half of his forces behind to guard their flank while he, Chiara and a dozen warriors advanced on the enemy ship. They had gotten past almost all of the enemy troops already and met little resistance until they actually got to the black, hulking vessel that had landed just outside the perimeter. There were about twenty of the aliens left to defend the ship, but with little or no cover, they were easy to pick off. Chiara wielded her lightsaber one-handed, deflecting any bolts that came too close, but that fight was over so quickly that it was hardly necessary.

Thrawn quickly organized his remaining warriors into attack groups and gave them instructions for once they boarded. Chiara stood quietly beside him as he did so, her face pale and drawn. "Is it me, or did that seem too easy?" she asked him once his troops were set in readiness.

"Very much so. They clearly have something planned for us once we board, but we have no other choice. If we do not take this ship and they finish setting their explosives, many Chiss will die and a great deal of research and work will be destroyed," he told her.

"I know. I have a very bad feeling about this, though."

The warriors slowly advanced towards the ship with Thrawn and Chiara in the rear, waiting for the invaders to show their hand or give some sort of indication of what they were up to. Nothing happened. They reached the hatch without any incident and one of the warriors reached up to key the release.

With that one motion, Chiara's danger sense snapped into focus. "No, wait!" she warned, but it was too late. Desperately, she turned to Thrawn and used the Force to throw him backwards and out of danger as the warrior touched the control and the ship exploded.


	19. Chapter 19

AN: Okay, I'm too much of a softie to make you guys wait to find out what happens. Don't get used to three chapters in one day, I seldom have time to get so much done! :p Please R&R.

* * *

**Chapter 19**

Thrawn's ears were ringing when he came to and it hurt to move. For a split second, he couldn't remember where he was. Then he remembered the attack and the explosion. Chiara had used the Force to get him out of danger. He pushed himself up on one elbow, ignoring the shooting pain in his chest, looking for her. It took a moment to locate her among the smoking ruins of the ship. She was lying facedown with her arms thrown over her head in an effort to protect herself. She wasn't moving.

Thrawn groped in his pocket for the comlink. "I need a med team," he rasped out.

"They are already on their way, Captain" an unfamiliar voice came back.

Thrawn didn't even bother putting the comlink back in his pocket as he painfully pulled himself up and staggered over to where Chiara was laying. He collapsed next to her, coughing violently. He barely noticed the blood that he coughed up on his hand as he tried to find Chiara's pulse. She had severe burns on her back and a jagged piece of metal from the ship was protruding from her side. He found a pulse, but it was weak. _Where are the medics? _he thought desperately as he felt himself losing consciousness again.

* * *

When he woke up again, he was staring up at the grey metal ceiling of the medbay. A set of biosensor rings wrapped around him, pinning him to the bed. Prard'an'isti, one of the medics, hurried over as the sensors started beeping.

"Captain, how are you feeling?" he asked, checking the readings.

"How is she?" he asked, ignoring the question.

"I'm sorry, who?" Prard'an'isti asked.

"Chiara. How badly was she hurt?"

Prard'an'isti cleared his throat. "She's still in surgery, actually. The damage is quite extensive and she's lost a great deal of blood. Still, Medic Chaf'alm'itrina seems to think there is a chance that she may pull through. Do you need anything for the pain? You broke most of your ribs and punctured a lung, in addition to your broken wrist and severe concussion."

"No, I'm fine," he got out. "How many did we lose?"

"Eighteen, sir. Another two dozen or so are injured, but most of them should survive. You will probably end up having to share your room with someone - we weren't really built for these kinds of numbers," the medic warned.

It would have been much worse without Chiara, he knew. He doubted they could have even made it as far as the ship without her help. He certainly wouldn't have survived the explosion if it hadn't been for her. Granted, his concussion and broken ribs were mostly likely the result of her shoving him with the Force, but it was far better than the alternative. He stared at the ceiling, trying to fight off the heaviness of his eyelids, wanting to know as soon as she came out of surgery.

* * *

Despite his best efforts, Thrawn had fallen asleep again before the Medics finished the surgery. When he woke up, Chiara was laying on the next bed over, covered in an identical set of biosensor rings. Her face was almost as white as the sheets on the bed. Chaf'alm'trina had come in to check on him a short time later and give him more pain medication. When Thrawn asked about her condition, he simply said that she was stable and that he was astonished her heart hadn't given out from the strain of trying to circulate what little blood she had left.

Commander Ina'tin'scalin stopped to visit him a short while later. He told Thrawn that when the ship had blown up, so had all of the explosives that the invaders had been carrying. The damage wasn't nearly as bad as it would have been if they had finished laying the explosives prior to detonation, but it was still bad enough. And now they had no prisoners to interrogate and no ship's records to search to try and find where these mysterious aliens had come from. Chiss High Command was sending an Admiral to help with the investigations.

Before he left, he told Thrawn that he was fortunate that Chiara had been so instrumental in defeating the aliens. If the circumstances had been anything else, he would have brought Thrawn up on charges of treason and executed her.

By the next day, there was no change in Chiara's condition, but the medics told Thrawn that he could be released to his own quarters for the rest of his recovery. He declined, knowing they wouldn't want him going back and forth from the Officer's wing to the medbay to check on Chiara.

He was sitting up on his bed on the third day since the attack, reviewing the preliminary reports on the tactics that the aliens had used when she finally woke up. The biosensors started beeping softly and Thrawn set down his datapad and looked over just in time to see her eyes flutter open. He slid off his bed and crossed to her side.

"Thrawn?" she whispered as Chaf'alm'itrina hurried in. "Did we defeat them?"

He smiled at her in relief. "Yes, we did," he answered as Chaf'alm'itrina pushed between them so he could check on her.

"I didn't give you permission to get up yet, Captain," he said, shooting Thrawn an amused look as he lifted the biosensor ring to examine Chiara.

Thrawn sat back down on his bed, watching Chaf'alm'itrina work. He was shocked at the extent of her burns as Chaf'alm'itrina carefully changed her bandages and applied a salve to them. Most of her back and a lot of her arms were covered in them.

"You aren't showing any signs of the accelerated healing you've displayed on previous occasions," Chaf'alm'itrina said in concern as he wrapped the last of her burns.

Chiara's smile was more of a grimace. "It's not an automatic process. I either have to be conscious to start it or another Jedi has to initiate the healing. Since you don't seem to have any Jedi on staff, there wasn't any chance to start the process before now."

"I see," the medic answered.

"It will probably take several days to repair all the damage, so don't worry if I appear unconscious for a few days," she told him. Chaf'alm'itrina nodded and headed off to tend his other patients. Chiara settled back on her bed, preparing to put herself into a healing trance. "Thrawn?" she said as she closed her eyes.

"Yes?" he replied.

A faint smile touched her pale lips. "I'm glad you're okay."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

It took more than a few days for Chiara to complete her healing trance; it actually took a full week. In the interim, Admiral Ar'alani arrived from High Command with reinforcements and to help with the investigation and repairs. Thrawn had been cleared to resume light duty and Chaf'alm'itrina had eventually kicked him out of the medbay, as well. He continued to stop by when he could and the medic kept him advised of her improvements. If Chaf'alm'itrina found his interest in an alien to be unusual, at least he had the sense not to say anything about it.

He was in his office, sifting through more reports about the attack and the damage that it caused when his comlink beeped. "Mitth'raw'nuruodo," he answered.

"Captain, I thought you might like to know that Chiara is awake," Chaf'alm'itrina informed him.

"Thank you, Medic," he answered. "I'll be right there."

Chiara was sitting up with her legs dangling over the edge of the bed as Chaf'alm'itrina removed the last of the bandages from her arms when Thrawn entered the medbay. "Hi," she greeted him.

"Hello, how are you feeling?" he asked, stopping next to the bed.

"A bit tired, but mostly better." She flinched as Chaf'alm'itrina accidentally grazed the pink, new skin on the back of her wrist with his shirt sleeve. "Unfortunately, I've never been very good at repairing nerve damage or regenerating blood cells, so I'm likely to be a bit uncomfortable and easily worn out for a while. Nothing too major, though,"

"I'm glad to hear it."

"I, uhh, I'm sorry about your ribs. And your lung. And the concussion," she said.

Thrawn gave her a small smile. "You have nothing to apologize for. If you hadn't done what you did, I doubt I would be here. A few broken bones is a small price to pay for you saving my life. It was a reckless thing to do, though."

She laughed. "Yes, yes it was. And for once, I suspect you are glad that I'm a bit reckless."

"No argument, there," he agreed.

* * *

The next day, Chiara and Thrawn sat in the rec room, playing game of _ch'etecisci_. Chaf'alm'itrina had cleared her to return to her quarters shortly after she had woken up from her healing trance the day before. She was still quite weak from blood loss and in a great deal of pain from the nerve damage she had suffered from the burns, but she had managed to convince the medic that there was no point in keeping her in the medbay. She greatly preferred the quiet of her quarters to the hustle and bustle of the medbay.

It had taken some work to persuade Thrawn to come here with her during their language lesson, but he had eventually given in to her request. Now that she was sitting here, trying to focus on the board and not let Thrawn trounce her, she wondered why she had been so eager to come back to the rec room. She could have picked any number of places to ask Thrawn her question, it certainly didn't have to be here.

She gave up studying the board with a sigh and sat back. No matter what she did, Thrawn was about to deal her a lethal blow. She was trying to chose between the lesser of two evils, losing her best attack piece or losing her strongest defender. With part of her mind busy with the task of trying to suppress the pain, it was a bit difficult to fully focus on the game.

"Are you tired?" Thrawn asked, watching her over the board. "We can go back to your quarters, if you like."

His concern made her smile. Ever since she woke up, he had been acting this way and she couldn't quite figure out why. Guilt for being reason for her being caught in the explosion, maybe? "No, I'm not tired yet," she answered, steeling herself. Now was as good a time as any. "Actually, I was just thinking. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"I know you were planning on taking me back to the Republic the day the attack happened. I know all of this has blown your schedule to bits, but..." she paused, searching for the right words. "Is there any reason that you have to take me back? Couldn't I just stay here?"

Thrawn's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I thought you wanted to go back."

She shrugged. "I haven't exactly been getting along too well with the Jedi Council for a while now. Differences of opinion. I keep telling them that we need to stop solving everything little argument for everyone in the galaxy and start teaching them how to resolve conflicts on their own. We are so busy serving others that we are losing sight of what it means to serve the Force. Here, though, it's different. No one has any pre-conceived notions or expectations of me simply because I'm a Jedi. I can take time to study the Force without being criticized for turning down a mission."

"You do realize that every member of Chiss society is expected to contribute to our society, don't you?"

She blushed. "Of course. I'm not suggesting that I be allowed to free-load. But, surely there is somewhere that I could fit in to help the Chiss with their goals. You've seen what I'm capable of."

The truth of it was that she'd had a vision from the Force while she was in her healing trance, and it had been so vivid that she could still recall it in perfect detail. She had been standing on a bridge with Thrawn, wearing a Chiss uniform with a burgundy patch of the Eighth family on one shoulder. Thrawn had been wearing the elaborately tooled bars that signified a Force Commander on his collar. She rarely had visions and she wasn't expert at interpreting them. Even if she didn't know what exactly the vision meant, it was pretty clear that the Force was telling her that it was more than just an accident that brought her here. This was where she belonged. She didn't know why, yet, but she was willing to stay and find out.

Thrawn regarded her for a long moment over the shimmer of the hologame board. "I believe that we could find something suitable for you," he said finally. "Let me see what I can arrange."

"Thank you," she said, feeling relieved. Suddenly, she was acutely aware of how tired she really was. "Umm, actually, if you don't mind, I am getting pretty tired. Maybe we can finish this game tomorrow?"

"Certainly." Thrawn keyed the game off and offered her his hand. She accepted it gratefully, trying not to grimace as she stood up. He walked with her back to her room and caught her when she tripped on the toe of her own boot in her weariness. She didn't object when he kept his arm around her waist to gently guide her the rest of the way to her room. She leaned her head tiredly on his shoulder as they walked. He keyed open the door to her quarters and helped her over to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Do you need more pain medication?" he asked her.

"Yes, please. It's on the table," she said as she kicked off her boots.

He retrieved the hypospray and sat down next to her, pulling her hair back from her neck with one hand while he deftly injected her with the hypospray with the other. "I told you it was too soon for you to be up and about."

"I know," she mumbled as she swung her legs up onto the bed and laid down. "What can I say? I'm reckless."

Thrawn chuckled and shook his head at her. "I'll see you tomorrow," he promised, heading for the door.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Chiara woke early the next morning as the blackness outside the cave was just beginning to show signs of the sun rising somewhere above the clouds and the storm. The wind had died to a low moan sometime during the night. She shivered against the chill that her suit couldn't keep at bay as the temperatures dropped at night and stretched her cold, aching muscles. She felt Thrawn stir behind her and his arms tightened briefly around her waist as he shook off the last of his sleep. His eyes were steady on her when she rolled over to look at him.

"Did you sleep better for the rest of the night?" he asked, tucking the blanket closer around her shoulders.

"I did," she confirmed.

"Good. I suppose we probably should wake the others and get started. It sounds like the wind has died a bit, at least for now. I'd like to try to cover half the remaining ground, today," he told her.

"That sounds ambitious, but we can certainly try."

Thrawn woke Mitth'saml'inas while Chiara stowed their gear and got out their breakfast. She noticed her pack was getting quite low on ration bars and checked Thrawn's. There were only ten of the bars left, not counting the ones they would be eating for breakfast. Her eyes flicked to Thrawn as he turned and came back towards her. He shook his head warningly and raised one gloved finger to his faceplate. Chiara waited until they had both pulled of their helmets to eat before she spoke.

"Thrawn, have you counted how many rations we have left, lately?" she asked.

"Yes, I have," he said, sounding a bit worried. "That's part of why I want to try to make it as far as we can, today. We can certainly survive without food for some time, but I'm concerned about how much the lack of energy that will result will impact our progress."

She started to put her ration back in her pack, but Thrawn caught her wrist. "No, you need to eat," he told her. "You and I are the ones who are carrying burdens. If anyone isn't going to eat, it should be them." He nodded towards Mitth'saml'inas. "But I am not going to try to have that discussion with her. This has been hard enough on them as it is, and they have done remarkably well, so far."

Reluctantly, she peeled back one corner of the packet and pulled the bar out. "I'll be glad to get back to the city and have some real food," she told him. "For one thing, these remind me too much of _ch'asceluv_."

Thrawn cocked an eyebrow at her as he took a bite of his bar. "That would be because _ch'asceluv _is one of the main ingredients."

Chiara made a face. "No wonder I don't like them."

* * *

They made good time that day and covered almost as much ground as Thrawn had hoped they would. The ground smoothed out and the outcroppings of ice became less and less frequent, cutting down on the number of times that they had to backtrack and find a way around a dead end. When they finally halted for the night, Thrawn and Chiara worked together to build a small shelter out of snow under one of the upthrust walls of ice. This particular one reminded Chiara of a wave that had been frozen in place, looming over them as she and Thrawn packed snow together to form the other three walls of their shelter. It would provide them with a wind block and the overhang it provided would help to keep the falling snow from burying them during the night. Bone-weary and longing for a steaming cup of caff, Chiara crawled under the low overhang and curled up in a corner of the shelter. Thrawn pulled three ration bars from his pack and cut them in half. He stowed the extra half away and then handed out the halves to their forlorn little group.

"Why only half a ration?" Mitth'saml'inas demanded when Thrawn gave her her portion. "It has been a long day and we traveled far. We each need a full ration to keep up our strength."

"I agree," Thrawn told her. "Unfortunately, we have only ten rations left and at least another two days' journey ahead of us, assuming that the storm doesn't worsen. I believe it is better for us to stretch it by having only a half ration then it is for us to eat the last of the food and go hungry for the rest of the trek."

"You should have brought more. Clearly, you weren't adequately prepared for this," Mitth'saml'inas snapped.

Chiara opened her mouth, a biting reply on the tip of her tongue, but Thrawn stopped her with a warning glance. "No, we weren't prepared for having to walk back to the city," Thrawn answered coolly. "We were prepared for the possibility of having our ship go down while we were searching for you. If it was just Chiara and me, and we weren't expending so much energy by trying to trek through this storm, we would have had sufficient rations to ride out the storm in safety. The only reason we are running out of food is because we have been sharing with you. No one has ever successfully attempted to make it to the city on foot in a storm of this magnitude. Why should we have been prepared for this?"

Mitth'saml'inas didn't reply, but her expression made it clear that she was chewing hull fasteners. She yanked off her helmet and tore into the ration bar as if finishing it three bites would prove her point that it wasn't enough food.

"Well, I'm impressed," Chiara told Thrawn in Basic as they ate their own meager portions. "I didn't think I would live to see the day when you would stand up to her."

Thrawn just raised one eyebrow at her in the semi-darkness. "Even I have my limits," he replied mildly. "And she can hardly complain if we do get them safely back to Csaplar."

"Do you think we can still do it?" she asked, trying to ignore the cold that bit painfully at the tips of her ears. "That is, can we make it to the city, given how things have gone so far and how much food we have left?"

"As long as you are able to guide us in once we get close enough and we don't have any complications along the way, I think we actually have some chance of making it," he told her.

* * *

When they woke in the next morning, they found that the wind had died down during the night and the snow was beginning to taper. When they started off through the snow again, Chiara could vaguely see the shapes of her companions as they trudged along beside her instead of a blank all of white snow. Everyone's spirits seemed to improve with the weather and they were making good progress. Mitth'srak'inaska bounced along next to Chiara, keeping up a steady stream of chatter about her life in Csaplar and things that she thought Chiara should try before she and Thrawn left for Crustai. Mitth'ixia'nith added a few suggestions of his own in his high, childish voice. Still not sure why these two had decided that they liked her so much, Chiara slogged on through the snow, making a comment when it seemed necessary, but mostly letting the girl ramble on as she pleased.

By mid-morning, the snow had lessened until it was little more than a light flurry.

"Is the storm clearing out already?" Chiara asked Thrawn, switching over to their private comm frequency. She had to squint against the glare as the sun's rays cut through the drifting snow to reflect off the snow and ice on the ground to avoid being blinded by the light.

"No, this is only a brief reprieve," Thrawn told her, his voice grim. "I saw the predictions on the storm that our scientists made, and they said this one would have several waves. They predicted that each subsequent wave would be worse than the one before."

Chiara's eyes widened. "Worse?"

"Indeed. I had hoped we could reach the city before the next section of the storm reached us, but I would say that is not going to be possible. It will most certainly overtake us before we can get that far," he told her.

"And if we don't make it to the city in time?" she asked.

Thrawn was silent for a moment. "Then we will have to find shelter and hope that we will be able to continue on once the leading edge of the second wave passes." His tone made it clear that he didn't think it was likely they would have a chance of this actually happening, though.

Mitth'srak'inaska was still chattering away at Chiara when she switched back to the main frequency, not even noticing that Chiara had been having a different conversation. The snow here was only up to the girl's knee and she had been able to walk on her own for most of the day. Abruptly, endless stream of happy chatter turned into a shriek of pain and dismay. Chiara turned in time to see the girl fall face first into the snow. Something wrapped around the girl's slender body and began dragging her down into the snow. The rope around her waist went taught and jerked her towards the spot where Mitth'srak'inaska had disappeared into the snowbank.

"_ Nahn'rast'an'cat_!" Thrawn bit out, drawing his charric. He swore. "I can't get a clear shot, Chiara, bring it down! Mitth'saml'inas, get back." He gestured the girl's mother away from where the snow was churning with movement.

Unsure what sort of creature she was dealing with, Chiara pulled her lightsaber free of her belt and ignited it, slicing through the harness that held Mitth'ixia'nith to her back, as well as the rope that tethered her to Thrawn. She threw herself in the direction of the tugging at her waist where her rope was still attached to the girl who was still screaming into her suit's commlink. Something wrapped itself around Chiara's waist and squeezed. Her ribs cracked painfully and threatened to snap under immense pressure as she was inexorably drawn towards the snowbank. Unable to see as her head vanished beneath the snow, Chiara gave herself over to the Force, lashing out with her lightsaber at the creature that held her and Mitth'srak'inaska. The snow sizzled and spat as her lightsaber burned a path through it and the creature. Abruptly, the pressure on her ribcage lessened. Mithh'srak'inaska continued to scream as Chiara tried to dig through the snow towards her. She quickly abandoned the effort as she realized she wasn't getting anywhere. Instead, she reached out towards the girl with the Force, pushing her towards the surface.

"I've got her," Thrawn called over the commlink.

Chiara struggled against the snow that pressed in around her. Unable to free herself from the heavy weight of the snow, she once again used her levitation ability to push herself up and out of the snowbank. She lay on the snow for a moment, trying to catch her breath, before she realized the severed half of the creature was still wrapped around her waist. She pulled it free and examined it. It seemed to be the tail of some sort of an elongated reptilian creature, but that didn't make sense, as most reptiles were coldblooded and surely couldn't survive in such harsh climate.

The sound of Mitth'srak'inaska whimpering in pain brought Chiara's attention back to the situation at hand. She quickly moved over to join Thrawn and Mitth'saml'inas where they crouched over the girl.

"Can you cut her free without hurting her?" Thrawn asked, indicating the half of the creature that still wrapped around the girl's leg and most of her body.

"Of course." Chiara freed the girl with a few precision cuts that left the creatures in pieces. She knelt beside her. "What hurts?"

"My ankle," she answered in a quavering voice, pointing to her right leg.

Chiara probed the ankle with swift fingers. "It's broken," she told Thrawn tautly. "I can help with the pain, but she can't walk on it. You're going to have to carry her."

Thrawn's expression said everything she needed to know. With this setback, there was no way for them to reach the city before the next part of the storm hit. The best thing they could hope for was to find somewhere to ride out the initial, brutal wave and then try to make it the rest of the way. Pushing their looming danger out of her mind, she relaxed into the Force and carefully dampened the young girl's pain.

"What was that thing?" she asked Thrawn as she lifted Mitth'srak'inasa into his back and then picked Mitth'ixian'ith up so she could carry him in her arms. At least the snow had cushioned the boy's fall enough that he wasn't hurt when she had abruptly cut him free. She didn't want to waste any time in trying to repair or rig a new harness for him, though, so she simply carried the boy on one hip.

"_Nahn'rast'an'cat _is the only reptilian species that was able to adapt when the planet froze over," he told her. "It's ancestors burrowed beneath the dirt and lay in wait for their prey to wander within range for them to strike. The _Nahn'rast'an'cat _burrow beneath the snow and ice, down to the thermal vents that dot the planet. They use this to maintain their warmth and avoid freezing. They come up to the surface periodically for short amounts of time to hunt and lay in wait under a snowbank for their prey to come near. They are very stealthy and very clever hunters."

"Interesting. Do they often feed on something as large as a person?"

Thrawn's eyes glittered. "When I was completing my training on the surface, I saw one take down a _htisah'tin'casi_. The bigger their prey, the longer it takes them to digest."

"And the longer it is before they have to return to the surface to hunt again, so the bigger, the better," Chiara finished for him.

"Exactly."

"And I suppose they are likely to be out now to hunt before the next part of the storm hits. I should go first so I can try to guide us away from any more of those," she told him.

"A wise plan," Thrawn agreed.

They struggled on for another two hours before the wind started to pick up. Chiara glanced over her shoulder as a blast of icy air struck her from behind. She stopped dead in her tracks. "Ahh, Thrawn?" she called into her comm. "Look behind us."

Thrawn turned to look and muttered something under his breath. A dark wall of ominous gray was sweeping in towards them, a thick white blanket of snow obscuring the ground below it. "We need to find shelter. I doubt we will even be able to stand once that hits: the wind is likely to be twice the strength of anything we have experienced, thus far."

Chiara swallowed hard. "We had better cut back over towards the ice cliffs, then. We aren't going to find any shelter here, and it looks like we are nearing the edge of the cliffs.

Thrawn nodded wordlessly and broke into a quick jog, Mitth'srak'inaska bouncing along on his back. Shaking off her weariness, Chiara hurried along behind him, Mitth'saml'inas close on her heels. By the time they made it to the cliff the all-too-familiar blur of swirling snow had enveloped them again, wrapping them in a suffocating blanket of white. They slowed their pace and hugged the cliff wall, hoping to find a cave. The wind howled around them and threatened to knock them off their feet.

They had been battling with the winds and swirling snow for nearly an hour, struggling to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, when they finally found an opening in the cliff. They stumbled blindly in, not even pausing to do a proper search for any animals that might live there before they plunged inside. Chiara set Mitth'ixia'nith down and pulled out her lightsaber and ignited it to provide some light while Thrawn carefully set Mitth'srak'inaska down and dug through his pack for the glowrods. He passed one to Mitth'saml'inas and Chiara, then gestured for Chiara to join him as he searched the cave.

"I really didn't think a storm could get any worse than what we dealt with before," Chiara told him, switching to their private comm frequency. "This is absolutely incredible."

"I know," Thrawn told her, lifting his glowrod so he could see her. Chiara could see the tension lines etched into his face in the dim glow. "We are so close to the city. If this had just held off for a few more hours, we could have made it."

"How close are we?" she asked as they shone their lights into the corners of the cave, checking for any animals that might be sheltering from the storm.

"No more than two _visvia_. The ice cliffs are exactly one and a half _visvia_ from the nearest launch tube. There's an entrance that leads down to the surface near there, as well. We will never find it in this much wind and blowing snow, though."

Chiara put an arm around him as they moved farther back into the cave. "Don't give up now. We're too close. If we can just hold out for a few days, maybe it will let up enough for us to make it the rest of the way."

Thrawn stopped and put both arms around her waist, pulling her gently to him. "I will not give up as long as I can still draw breath. We have too much ahead of us for that and we have nothing to lose by trying to make it to the city. We will wait a day or two to see if the storm lessens. Hopefully, it will. If not, we will just have to risk it and hope that your Jedi powers are enough to guide us to one of the entrances of the city."

She rested her helmeted head against his shoulder and closed her eyes, wishing once again that she could actually touch him. They stood quietly together for a moment, neither wanting to move. When she finally opened her eyes again, she noticed something on the floor of the cave that she hadn't seen before.

"Thrawn, is that what I think it is?" she asked, pointing.

Thrawn looked at the spot she indicated, then went over and knelt down to examine the object on the floor. His glowrod clearly showed the skeleton of a medium sized animal, picked clean of all meat and hide. His glowing eyes searched around the cave, locating two more skeletons nearby, then looked up at her. "We seem to have found ourselves in the lair of a _htisah'tin'casi_," he said tautly. "Don't tell the others. There is nowhere else for us to go and there is no point in worrying them. You and I will just have to keep watch in case it returns."

They finished scouting out the rest of the cave and circled back to where Mitth'saml'inas and her children were huddled. Snow as drifting through the mouth of the cave and piling up around their feet. "The cave is clear," Thrawn told them, picking Mitth'srak'inaska up gently. "Let's move farther back, where we will have a bit more shelter from the storm."

Chiara pulled the blankets out of her pack and wrapped one around Mitth'srak'inaska's shoulders after Thrawn set the girl down where she could lean against the cave wall. "How is your ankle?" she asked.

"It hurts," the girl told her, biting her lower lip to keep it from trembling.

Chiara put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's okay, I can dull the pain again." She reached out to the Force and set to work. She felt Mitth'srak'inaska relax after a moment.

"I'm sorry I made everything harder," she told Chiara seriously when she opened her eyes again. "Maybe you should just leave me behind when you head for the city, again. I'm just going to slow you down."

Chiara looked at the young Chiss in shock. "Mitth'srak'inaska, don't talk that way. We are not leaving you behind. I promised you that I would do my best to get you home, didn't I? And I still have to show you all the things my lightsaber can do. We will get you you home and the medics will be able to fix your ankle up. It's going to be okay."

"Do you promise?"

Chiara took a deep breath. _Please don't let this be a lie._ "I promise."


	22. Chapter 22

AN: Thank you for the review, Stardust585! I'm glad you like the scene. It's one of those that kept me up in the middle of the night until I finally gave in and got up to write it out. And the poem is one I've loved ever since I sang a beautiful arrangement of by Schubert.

Madame Jocasta, thanks for the follow & review. I'm so glad to hear you are enjoying this.

* * *

**Chapter 22  
**

When Chiara woke the next morning, she was almost afraid that the previous evening had been a dream. It felt so odd to be going against the traditions of the Jedi, but she had always felt that the non-attachment policy was a bit overzealous. There was a group of Jedi that the Council refused to recognize because they even had entire families, but Chiara had never heard of any of them turning to the dark side. She spent most of the morning meditating, trying to make sure that she really was following the guidance of the Force. This seemed to be in line with her vision, but it was so hard to tell, sometimes.

She was still meditating when she felt Thrawn presence around mid-morning. A surety and peace flowed through her from the Force as he sat down at the table across from where she sat cross-legged on the bunk. Yes, this was right. This was where she was supposed to be, and he was who she was supposed to be with. She opened her eyes slowly and found Thrawn watching her quietly.

"Good morning," she said, smiling at him.

"Good morning," he returned. "I was beginning to wonder if you had fallen asleep sitting up."

She laughed. "No, I was meditating."

"I see. Do you feel up to a short walk?" he asked. "I thought you might enjoy a change of scenery."

She smiled. "That would be very nice, actually. And, yes, I think I'm up for a bit of walking."

One corner of his mouth twitched upwards into a miniscule smile. "Excellent." He paused to pick up her datapad and hypospray full of pain medication before he lead the way out and through the winding halls. A few corridors over, they encountered the Commander and a tall Chiss female dressed entirely in white. They stopped when they saw Thrawn and Chiara approaching.

"Captain," the Commander said, "How is your analysis of the tech team's report coming?"

"It will be finished and on your desk by noon, Commander," Thrawn assured him.

The female Chiss stepped forward, giving Chiara an appraising look. "This is the alien that assisted in the battle?" she asked.

Thrawn nodded. "Yes, Admiral. May I present Jedi Master Chiara Matao of the Galactic Republic. Chiara, this is Admiral Ar'alani of the Chiss Defense Fleet."

The Admiral raised her eyebrows at Thrawn. "She speaks Cheunh?"

"She understands it, yes, but she doesn't really speak it. It seems to be beyond the capabilities of her vocal mechanism. She can speak Minnisiat, though." Thrawn replied.

Ar'alani gave Chiara another probing look. "I will wish to question her regarding the battle, later."

"It's an honor to meet you, Admiral," Chiara said in Minnisiat, reining in her annoyance at being talked about as if she wasn't there. "I am at your disposal to answer any questions you may have."

The Admiral gave her one last look before she turned on her heel and strode off down the corridor with the Commander following in her wake.

"She's charming," Chiara muttered to Thrawn as they resumed their leisurely pace.

"Keep in mind that the Chiss have lived in isolation for well over a century. Most don't accept outsiders very easily," he reminded her.

"You did."

"I'm not most Chiss."

She couldn't help but smile at that. "No. No, you're not."

Thrawn halted outside one of the many doors that lined the corridor and keyed the door, gesturing her inside. Chiara stepped in and found herself in living quarters that felt expansive after a month of living in the small crew quarters. A compact but comfortable looking couch took up the wall beside the door and a table with neat stacks of datacards occupied one corner. A full sized bed took up the other side of the room, instead of the narrow bunks that were in the crew quarters. There was a medium-sized sculpture in the middle of the room and various other pieces of art adorned the walls.

She turned back to Thrawn. "These are your quarters?"

He nodded, closing the door behind them. "Being an officer does have its advantages. I have work to do, but I thought you might enjoy relaxing on the couch. I remember all too well how uncomfortable those bunks can get."

She gave him a wry smile as she settled in to the couch. "Uncomfortable is an understatement. Can you join me, or do you need to sit at the table to work on your reports?"

"I believe I can manage," he said with a small smile, handing her her datapad and retrieving his from the table before he joined her. Chiara moved a bit closer and rested her head against Thrawn's shoulder. He slipped one arm around her waist and warmed her temple with a kiss as he tapped at his datapad with one hand. She was so comfortable that she didn't even try to fight it when her eyes unfocused from what she was reading and her eyelids started to drift closed.

* * *

When Chiara woke up again, Thrawn was gone and she was laying curled up on the couch. She stood and stretched, working the kinks out of her muscles. She wandered over to the table and found where Thrawn had left her hypospray of medicine on the table. She stared up at the abstract blue and green painting that hung above the table as she injected herself with another dose, studying the intricate designs that swirled across it.

Thrawn returned a few minutes later, balancing a tray with two meals and two drinks on it. "What do you think of my art collection?" he asked as he carefully set their lunch down on the table.

"I like it. This one isn't Chiss, though, is it?" she said, indicating the painting she had been studying.

"Very perceptive," he complimented her. "It is from a race called the Kil'tara. They hold a small sector of space just outside Chiss territory."

"Are they friends or enemies?"

"Neither, at present. I suspect they will move against us eventually, though, given their aggressive tendencies."

"How do you know they are aggressive? Have you had contact with them?" she asked.

"No, but many of their traits are easily identified through their artwork," Thrawn told her.

She looked from him to the painting, then back at him. "You're telling me that you can tell what their species is like simply from studying their art?"

Thrawn nodded. "It's also how I was able to decide that I could trust you - by studying your lightsaber. It's not just a weapon, it's a piece of art."

"Interesting," she said. "Well, I'm glad you decided to trust me, rather than kill me. For a while there, I was afraid you were going to go with the latter."

"I did think about it," he admitted. "Now, shall we eat before the food gets cold?"

* * *

Thrawn was still on restricted duty per the orders of the medics, so after lunch they returned to the couch and spent most of the afternoon taking turns reading to each other. Thrawn's ability to smoothly translate Cheunh text into Basic was nothing short of remarkable. Chiara felt like her attempts at just reading Cheunh were pitiful in comparison, but he insisted that she was making good progress. She dozed off twice while he was reading, but he didn't seem to mind.

After dinner, Thrawn walked her back to her quarters. "I really enjoyed today," she told him as he paused inside her door to wrap her in his arms and kiss her goodnight.

He smiled down at her as he cradled her against his chest. "As did I. Would you like to do it again, tomorrow?"

"I'd like that," she said with a smile.

"You know where my quarters are now, and you are getting stronger. Do you want to join me when you wake up, or shall I come and get you?"

"I'll come when I wake up," she told him, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.

"Then I will see you in the morning. Now go to bed before you fall asleep on your feet," he said as he bent to give her one last kiss before he left.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Chiara and Thrawn passed the next several days in a similar fashion. Their newfound routine of spending their days in each others company was disrupted when Thrawn was finally cleared to return to normal duty. The Commander didn't waste any time in sending him out on a surveillance sweep of the nearby systems that lasted several days.

Chiara did a tolerable job of keeping herself occupied during his absence for the first three days, but then it started getting lonely. At least most of the Chiss had developed enough respect for her to answer her when she spoke to them, but they still didn't seem enthusiastic about holding a conversation with her. Thankfully, Admiral Ar'alani finally got around to questioning her about the battle. She had apparently spoken to the warriors who were present, though, because none of what Chiara told her seemed to be a surprise. The Admiral didn't seem particularly pleased when she asked Chiara about the timeline for returning her to the Republic and Chiara told her that it had been postponed indefinitely. After that, she frostily thanked Chiara for her assistance in the battle and summarily dismissed her.

By the fifth day, Chiara was started to get seriously bored. Although she knew it was probably still a little too soon, she went to the training center to do a bit of stretching. She was going cautiously going through a series of calisthenic exercises when one of the warriors approached her.

"Jedi Master Chiara Matao, " he addressed her gravely. "I would be honored if you would spar with me."

Chiara blinked at him, feeling rather surprised. Other than Thrawn and a few of the medics, none of the Chiss had ever willingly addressed her. A polite excuse was on her lips when she realized he would probably see it as an affront if she refused. _Surely one round won't hurt anything. _"I am equally honored by your request. I don't believe we have been introduced."

"Forgive my impoliteness. My name is Mitth'is'arla," he said, inclining his head.

The match was relatively short and a lot more sedate that the one that Chiara and Thrawn had had just a few weeks before. Chiara was pleased to see that her reflexes weren't flagging any, even if she still lacked her normal strength. She beat Mitth'is'arla soundly and without too much difficulty, but the match left her worn out and winded. Her still-raw nerves felt like they were on fire. Chiara excused herself before any of the other warriors could ask her for a match and headed back to her quarters. The first the she did was seize the hypospray that had been gathering dust on a corner of her table and give herself a dose. As she climbed wearily into bed, she could almost see Thrawn standing over her and shaking his head at her foolishness.

* * *

She woke a few hours later to someone placing a kiss on her forehead. Her eyes flew open.

"Thrawn!" she breathed, sitting up. "You're back!"

He sat down on the edge of her bed and traced her jaw with a fingertip. "Yes. I can't stay now; I have to make my report to the Commander." He bent over and pressed his lips to hers.

"I missed you," she whispered as he pulled back.

"I know," he said simply. "I will come back when my duties are finished, which should be around 1700. Try not to get into any more sparring matches while I'm gone."

She ducked her head, blushing. How did he know about that already?

* * *

Thrawn was sitting at his table, pouring over maps and the latest report about possible systems of origin for the still mysterious alien invaders when the door chimed. "Come," he called, not looking up.

"Hi," a familiar voice said.

Thrawn looked up in surprise to find Chiara standing just inside the door. If she'd been pale this afternoon, she looked deathly, now. He quickly set down his datapad and moved to help her to the couch. "What are you doing here?" he chastised her gently as he helped her sit down. "I told you that I would come and see you for precisely this reason: you look exhausted. You've already done far too much today without walking halfway across the building."

She leaned her head back and sighed. "Have you looked at the time, lately?"

He did now and was shocked to see that it was 1900. "I am sorry, I clearly lost track of the time. I was trying to make some sense of the report that just came out with a list of possible place that our invaders could have come from."

"It really bothers you that you don't know, doesn't it?" she asked

He nodded. "The longer it takes to track them down, the more time they have to launch another attack. Even with the Admiral's ship in orbit, we would be hard pressed to defeat them if they came in force."

"Can I see the report?" she asked.

Thrawn hesitated a moment. It was classified information, but she had done so much to help them. Could there really be any harm in letting her see it? He stood up to retrieve the datapad from the table, but it rose in the air and floated over to them.

"Sorry," she said as he blinked in surprise at the datapad hovering between them. She plucked it from the air and handed it to him. "I forgot that makes you uncomfortable."

"It's fine," he assured her, forcing a smile. "You don't have to hide your abilities when you are with me. Don't diminish who you are for fear that it might make me uncomfortable." He sat back down next to her, pulled up the report and passed the datapad to her.

She kissed his cheek before turning her attention to the datapad, her forehead wrinkling in concentration as she sifted through the Cheunh text. Thrawn put his arm around her slender waist as she read, enjoying having her close again. As much as he hadn't liked having to leave her behind while he took the _Springhawk _out, it had been good for him to have some time to consider their relationship. Inter-species relationships were practically unheard of in Chiss culture and he knew this would not be an easy road. Still, after a great deal of thought and careful consideration, he had decided that he didn't particularly care.

"You should check this system out," she said, scrolling back up to indicate one of the more minor ones on the list.

Thrawn frowned. That one hadn't looked like a likely candidate to him. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Jedi insight. I'm seldom wrong on about such things." Coming from anyone else, that would have been a prideful statement, but she somehow managed to state it simply as a matter of fact. _She has such power, yet she wears it so lightly_, he thought. He still had a hard time believing she could pinpoint the invaders' position simply by scanning a report, though.

"I will suggest it to the Commander in the morning," he told her, despite his misgivings. "Now, do you want to tell me just what you thought you were doing engaging in hand-to-hand training this morning?"

She held up her hands defensively. "I know, it was a reckless thing to do. I was just going to do a few stretches to try and build back up some of my strength, but then one of the warriors asked me to spar with him. I didn't think I could turn him down without insulting him."

"He would have understood if you had explained that you weren't completely recovered, yet," Thrawn pointed out.

"Would he? That was the first time that anyone here has ever willingly walked up to me and talked to me, Thrawn. I didn't want to risk throwing that away."

He couldn't find anything to say to that. He pulled her closer and kissed her forehead, instead. She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed. As Thrawn looked down at her, he couldn't help teasing her a little. "It was still a reckless thing to do."

Her laugh turned into a groan. Apparently, she had done more than just tired herself in her foolishness. "No arguments there," she conceded. He brushed a strand of hair back from her cheek and kissed her lightly. She put one arm around his neck and pulled him closer, her soft and warm lips moving against his.

His comlink chose that moment to beep at him. Unwillingly, he disengaged himself from her arms and pulled it out of his pocket. "Mitth'raw'nuruodo," he said, trying to keep the annoyance at being interrupted out of his voice.

"Captain," the Admiral's voice said, "I want to see you in my office."

"Right away, Admiral," he responded. He flicked the comlink off and turned to Chiara. "I'm sorry, I have to go. She probably just has some question about our surveillance sweep, it shouldn't take long. Why don't you stay here? You don't look like you can make it back to your quarters on your own."

She nodded. "Okay."

Even though he knew he had better hurry if he didn't want to incur the Admiral's displeasure, Thrawn couldn't help pausing for another kiss before he left.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

"Have a seat, Captain." Ar'alani said curtly as Thrawn entered. "What is the nature of your relationship with the alien?" she asked without preamble.

Thrawn blanched. That certainly wasn't a question he had been expecting. "I beg your pardon?" was all he could get out as he dropped into the indicated chair.

"I have heard a report that you have been spending a great deal of time in her company and I want to know why."

"With all due respect, Admiral, I fail to see how my relationship with her is of any concern to you," Thrawn answered, trying to keep his tone neutral.

"Don't avoid the question," she snapped. "Are you or are you not romantically involved with her?"

Thrawn deliberated over his answer for a moment, but he knew better than to lie to an Admiral. "I am," he said simply.

Ar'alani hissed in displeasure. "I thought you had more sense than to allow yourself to be entangled in such an unwise relationship."

"I am fully aware of the challenges and rarity of an inter-species relationship, Admiral. While it may be difficult, I would not call it unwise." It took considerable effort to get that out in a cool, controlled tone.

"If you were anyone else, I might agree." Ar'alani bit out.

Thrawn frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You are the most brilliant officer in the entire fleet. You were born to sit on High Command and to protect our people. You cannot be so naive as to think this will not have a negative impact on your career." The Admiral raised her, then let it fall. "Do you think that the Ruling Families would allow someone who was bound to an outsider to rise to any position of importance? You will be ostracized for your choice and shunted aside to distant assignments that lead nowhere. You will never hold a command and you will never realize your full potential."

Thrawn felt his mouth go dry. It hadn't even occurred to him that this could have such a profound impact on his career and long term goals.

"Have you nothing to say?" Ar'alani demanded. "Surely you cannot be so selfish as to throw your gifts and talents away for something as frivolous as love. Our people need you. Walk away from this outsider now, before it is too late."

Everything in Thrawn rebelled against the suggestion, but the Admiral had a valid point; he had a duty to his people. The regions around their space were not safe and the dangers that were poised around the Ascendancy were chilling to consider. Every instructor in the Chiss Defense Fleet Academy had called him a prodigy, saying that he would lead them all into new era of prosperity and safety from the threats that currently surrounded them. He had lived under the shadow of that ever since then, feeling the weight of his people on his shoulders as he strove to rise through the ranks. At 19, he was the youngest Captain in the fleet.

"Tell me once and for all, will you abandon this reckless course?" The Admiral demanded.

_Reckless_. The word which he had applied to Chiara so many times. He could see her laughing face after they had jumped off a cliff together, her hair tangled in knots and filled with bits of debris from the forest. He saw her standing tall and unafraid in the midst of the withering rain of blasterfire as she willingly put herself in danger to protect his warriors. He saw the expression on her face when she realized there wasn't time for her to save him and get out of the way of the exploding ship and chose to sacrifice herself for him. Could he truly walk away from her? He swallowed the lump that had lodged in his throat and looked at the Admiral.

"I thank you for bringing this to my attention, Admiral," he said formally. "I will not make a hasty decision in so weighty a matter, but I will most certainly consider what you have said." He stood. "May I be dismissed?"

Her eyes bored into his and, for a moment, Thrawn thought she was going to refuse to let him leave until he promised to break off his relationship with Chiara. Finally, she gave a curt nod. He turned and hurried from the room before she could change her mind.

Thrawn wandered the base for quite some time, trying to think. He couldn't deny the truth behind the Admiral's words. His people were so xenophobic that they were likely to mistrust him for his choice. Could he live with that, knowing that he had chosen Chiara over his own people? The Admiral was right; with all the threats that were pressing in on the Ascendancy, they needed him. He had a duty to protect them.

Thrawn found himself wandering outside under the stars. He sat down on the same rock formation that he and Chiara had sat on the night that they spent together, stargazing. His eyes were drawn to where she had been shot during the battle. That moment, that terrible moment when he had been afraid he was going to lose her, was the moment when he realized that he didn't care if she was an outsider, that he just wanted to be with her, to hold her in his arms and to protect her. It was nothing short of a miracle to him that she loved him back. He had been so sure she was going to order him out on that night when he kissed her for the first time. He hadn't planned it, but the poem that she had so painstakingly translated into Cheunh stirred an irresistible desire in him. That she returned his affection was almost beyond his comprehension.

Chiara was giving up so much to be with him, too. She was giving up her Jedi Order, her home and everything that was familiar. If she could give that up without complaint, how could he not give up High Command for her? And, if they paired his tactical skills with her incredible abilities on the battlefield, could the Nine Ruling Families truly ignore them forever? The Chiss were proud and shunned outsiders, yes, but they weren't wasteful. Undoubtedly, the road would be long and hard to earn their respect, but surely it would still be possible. Thrawn ran his hands through his hair, considering. Even if the Admiral was right and he never gained a command of his own, could he begrudge Chiara that? _If it comes down to choosing between High Command and her, I choose her, _he decided. He took a deep breath, stood up and headed back to where she waiting for him in his quarters.

* * *

It was nearly 2430 when he arrived back at his quarters. He found Chiara curled up on the couch, sleeping soundly. Her dark auburn hair had fallen across her cheek, obscuring most of her face. He tucked it back behind her ear and ran a finger along the pointed tip that was one of the features that marked her as alien. She still looked pale from her ridiculous stunt of sparring with one of the warriors, this morning. He thought about taking her back to her quarters but, light as she was, carrying her half-way acrosss the complex was somewhat less than appealing. His ribs still hurt quite a bit whenever he attempted any sort of physical exertion and he didn't particularly want to risk encountering the Admiral, even at such a late hour. After considering his options, Thrawn crossed to his bed and threw back the blanket. Going back to Chiara, he slipped off her boots and picked her up carefully, trying not to wake her. He slid her feet between the covers and laid her gently on the bed. He pulled the covers up over her sleeping form and placed a kiss on her forehead before he slipped quietly into the 'fresher to change into his nightclothes. Coming out, he turned off the light and settled in to the couch, trying to find a comfortable position to spend the night.

Chiara stirred. "Thrawn?" She said sleepily.

Thrawn sat up. "I'm here."

"What... Why am I in your bed?" she asked, still sounding half-asleep.

"You fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you by carrying you all the way across the building."

"Oh." He could hear her yawn before she asked, "Where're you going to sleep?"

"I'll sleep here on the couch. Now, go back to sleep."

"Don't do that. There's plenty of room here," she said, patting the bed.

Thrawn hesitated, not wanting to make her uncomfortable. "Are you sure? I would be fine here."

"You don't even fit on there. Just come here."

It was true; not only was he considerably taller than her, he also wasn't nearly as slight as she was. No matter how he tried to make himself fit on the couch, some part of his body was still hanging off. Thrawn gave in, crossed to the other side of the bed and carefully laying beside her without touching her.

"Mmm. That's better," she murmured, already dozing off again.

Thrawn watched her sleep for a moment, then rolled onto his back and tried to sleep, too.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

When Chiara woke the next morning, she was momentarily disoriented by the fact that she wasn't in her quarters. She blinked away the last bits of sleep and looked over to see Thrawn sleeping next to her. She noted that he was laying on top of the blankets, instead of under them, presumably for propriety's sake. And this was after he had tried to give up his bed completely for her comfort. _How did I manage to end up with such a wonderful, considerate man? _she wondered for what had to be the hundredth time. She tried to ignore the nagging guilt that lingered for ignoring the Jedi rules of non-attachment as she studied Thrawn's face as he slept. Was this really the will of the Force, or was she just trying to justify her actions? She wished she knew for sure. Chiara rolled onto her back and stared up at the grey ceiling. There was her vision, though, as well as the incredible sense of peace that had flowed through her from the Force the day that Thrawn had come to visit her while she was meditating. She hadn't imagined either of those things.

She felt Thrawn stir next to her and turned to find him awake and watching her. "Good morning. I trust you slept well?" he asked.

Suddenly feeling uncharacteristically shy as the fact occurred to her that she, a Jedi Master, was laying in bed with a man she had only known for a few months, Chiara just nodded.

"Good," he said simply, reaching over to adjust the blanket so that it covered her shoulder.

"Didn't you get cold?" she asked, finding her voice. "We could have shared a blanket."

"It was fine," he assured her, getting up. He leaned across the bed to plant a kiss on her forehead. "I have to get to work, but you can stay as long as you like."

Her eyes followed him across the room as he retrieved a clean uniform from one of the drawers built into the wall. He had slept in a fitted, sleeveless shirt that left little of his physique to the imagination. Chiara couldn't help staring at his well-muscled shoulders and biceps until he disappeared into the 'fresher. Distracted though she was by his rather attractive build, she couldn't help but notice that there was something different about his sense. She sat up as he came back out of the 'fresher, dressed in a neatly pressed uniform.

"Thrawn, what did the Admiral want, last night?" she asked. From the look on his face, she gathered that he wasn't quite ready to discuss it yet. "Not that you have to tell me," she added hastily.

He paused and looked at her. "No, you have a right to know, since it was about you," he told her. He crossed the room and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. "The Admiral knows that we have become involved. She was voicing her concerns about how our relationship will impact my career. She thinks that it would prevent me from ever reaching High Command, or even just having a command of my own."

Chiara carefully kept her expression neutral. "And so she wanted you to break up with me."

"Yes," he said simply.

"And what do you think?" she asked, trying hard to keep her voice steady.

"I think she is right. The Ruling Families are too steeped in centuries of prejudice to accept outsider. They would see you as a weakness and a threat to my loyalties."

She absorbed his statement in silence. "So when do you want to take me back to the Republic?" she asked finally, a slight quaver making its way into her voice.

He looked at her in surprise. "What? You don't really think...?" He took one of her pale hands in both of his. "Chiara, I spent a lot of time thinking about this, last night. It doesn't matter. I knew this wouldn't be an easy road from the beginning. I hadn't fully considered all of the ramifications, but that doesn't change anything. I will serve the Chiss to the best of my abilities and in whatever capacity they grant me, but I will not do it at your expense. At our expense," he amended.

"You would do that for me?" she asked. "You would give up your chances at High Command?" He nodded. "But why would you do that?" she blurted, disbelieving.

Thrawn shook his head at her and gently drew her into his arms. "Chiara, you have spent your entire life giving up everything for others. Is it really so hard for you to believe that someone would want to give something up for you?"

He was right, she knew, as always. After nearly four hundred years of serving others with no regard for herself, self-sacrifice had become ingrained in her. Accepting the sacrifices of someone was else was a completely foreign concept to her, though. Sure, the people of the Republic occasionally gave token gifts to the Jedi who helped them, but it was just that: a token. Both parties knew that she could never keep anything that they gave her and that she would simply turn around and give it away to someone in need. Now that she found herself on the receiving end of a personal sacrifice of such magnitude, she had no idea how to respond. Unable to find anything to say, she settled for putting her arms around him and leaning her head against his shoulder. Thrawn stroked her hair and laid his cheek against her head. In that moment, she felt like he saw her more clearly than anyone ever had in her entire life, including her. She sighed, wishing they could stay this way forever, locked safely away from the pressure of the Jedi Council and the Chiss Ascendency. After several long moments, she stirred. "You should probably go. You might as well not make things any harder on yourself by getting a disciplinary record for being late."

Thrawn smiled at her. "You have an excellent point." He kissed her before letting her go and standing up. "I will see you tonight. Try to stay out of trouble."


	26. Chapter 26

AN: Thanks for the review, Stardust585! I'm glad you're still enjoying it. I'll be honest, I actually have written all the way through chapter 31, at this point. My writing style is to get it typed out, send it to my beta readers for feedback and then let it percolate for a day or two before I make any final adjustments and post it. :) The rest of this week is going to be pretty busy (yay for working almost 60 hours... NOT!), but hopefully I can get at least one chapter up a day.

And here we have the chapter that I have been dying to post. Please review and let me know what you think! I hope you like it as much as I do.

* * *

**Chapter 26**

A week later, Thrawn sat in his office, staring at his datapad in surprise and frustration. The Commander had sent the _Whirlwind_ out the day before to to check on the system that Chiara had identified as a possible base for the alien invaders. Thrawn hadn't expected anything to come of it and, as a result, hadn't pushed the Commander to send an investigative team out any sooner. When the _Whirlwind _had arrived, though, they found a freshly abandoned base that almost certainly belonged to the aliens. A survey team was sifting through the little that had been left behind now, but Thrawn didn't expect them have any success in finding where they aliens had gone. _I should have believed her_, he thought to himself. Everything Chiara had ever told him about her Jedi skills had proved to be true. Why had he doubted her on this? If he had believed her and acted more swiftly, perhaps they could have ended this threat once and for all.

His door chime chirped softly, interrupting his thoughts. "Come," he called.

Kres'ham'brothi, one of Thrawn's warriors, stepped smartly through the door. "Captain, I need to speak with you."

Thrawn motioned him in. "What can I do for you?"

Kres'ham'brothi fidgeted uncomfortably with the hem of his uniform. "Pardon me if this seems out of line, sir, but I've noticed that you seem to be taking a lot of...interest in the alien Jedi." Seeing Thrawn's expression darken, he hurried to add, "I didn't see why you kept her around at first, but after the attack... Well, she certainly proved herself there. I thought you should know, I overheard the Admiral and the Commander talking in the mess, this morning. Apparently, they mean to pair you with a Syndic from the Eighth Family before you can 'do anything foolish,' as they put it. I didn't hear all of it, but I got the impression that she will be here in the next few days."

Thrawn swore under his breath, the reports from the _Whirlwind_ suddenly forgotten. He'd been expecting this, but not quite so soon. "Who else knows about this?"

"No one, sir. I didn't say anything to anyone else."

"Good. Keep it that way, Kres'ham'brothi. That is an order."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed." Thrawn steepled his fingers under his chin as he thought furiously. He'd been avoiding Admiral Ar'alani for the last several days, fearing that she would demand a decision from him, but he had known that could only work for so long. Clearly, she had decided to take matters into her own hands to prevent him from what she saw as a foolhardy union with Chiara by arranging for him to be paired with someone that she found more compatible with his military ambitions. Pairing wasn't uncommon and, more often then not, was arranged by the Ruling Family of the two individuals solely for the political gain of the Family. Thrawn wondered who in the Eighth Family had been involved in this mess. The more people who knew about this, the more damaging it would be for him to extricate himself from this pairing that they were clearly going to try to force him into. Was it Thrass? Yes, Thrawn could see his brother helping to arrange it. All it would take was Admiral Ar'alani telling Thrass that he was getting into an unwise relationship and Thrass would jump at the opportunity to stop his older brother from making a foolish decision. If that was the case, at least this was likely to be a small enough affair that could be hushed up.

He considered his options. If this Syndic was truly going to be here in a matter of days, he didn't have much time. As a Trial-born, he was bound to follow the directives of the Eighth Family, up to and including allowing them to pair him with a woman of their choice. His only chance to get out of this pairing was to make sure that he was already bound to protect Chiara, rendering him ineligible to be paired by his Family. He wasn't sure Chiara was ready, though. He had been unsuccessfully trying to find an opportunity to breach the subject with her for the past several days.

_Is it really Chiara that isn't ready, _he asked himself, _or is it me?_ He knew that once he did this, there was no going back. He was poised on the brink of sacrificing his career for Chiara, but if he was honest with himself, he was afraid to make the final leap. What if it didn't work out between them? They hadn't known each other for more than a few months. His eyes strayed towards the drawer that held her lightsaber. He drew it out from its resting place and let his eyes rove over the silvery handle. He had studied it so many times that he was fairly confident that he could have copied out an exact replica of it from memory. Everything about the design spoke of deep conviction, loyalty, self-sacrifice and quiet strength. He traced over the inscription over the inscription of the Code that guided her, which read, "Peace over anger. Honor over hate. Strength over fear."

He turned the lightsaber over in his hands, thinking. No, he didn't know everything there was to know about her. There were still great swatches of her past that he knew nothing about. But did he really need to know that? He knew who she was now and he knew the principles that guided her. He had seen them in action, lived out before him daily. After being raised among the complex society of the Chiss where things were seldom what they seemed, he found her artlessness to be startling, refreshing and challenging all at once. Was he truly worried that they wouldn't be able to work out whatever minor differences lay between them, or was it fear that he couldn't measure up to her conviction and honesty?

Thrawn took a deep breath and carefully replaced the lightsaber in his drawer. She had asked him to make a leap of faith, once before. Perhaps now it was time for them to take another leap, together.

* * *

Later that evening, Thrawn and Chiara sat together on the couch in his quarters. Even though she had mostly regained her strength, she had developed a liking for curling up with her head on his shoulder as he read to her. Tonight, she had selected a collection of legends that dated back farther than the ice age that currently held Csilla in eternal winter for him to translate. When he stumbled over the translation of a word into Basic for the fourth time in as many lines, Chiara quietly reached over and switched the datapad off.

"What's going on, Thrawn?" she asked in concern, resting her hand on his. "You've been distracted all evening."

He looked down at her, nestled up against his side and watching him with such warm concern in her deep blue eyes. _This is as good a time as any,_ he decided. "Chiara," he began, setting the datapad aside and turning to face her, "I'd like to discuss something with you." She sat up, folding her hands in her lap and giving him her full attention. He hesitated, looking for the right words. "I would like to take you under my protection." He searched her face. "Do you know what that means?"

"I think so," she said slowly, looking just a bit surprised. "From what I understand, the Chiss have no concept of marriage as we do in the Republic. When a Chiss male takes a woman 'under his protection,' that signifies that they are mated for life and they simply move in together." She paused. "It is for life, isn't it?"

He smiled, feeling relieved that he didn't have to explain it to her. "Yes, it is. And you are correct, we do not have any formal ceremony that accompanies the pairing of a man and woman. Although, if this is important to you, I'm sure that something could be arranged."

"No, it's ahh..." she trailed off, then nodded. "It's okay. We will do this the Chiss way."

"Then you consent?" he asked, a bit surprised that it had been so easy and wanting to be sure.

She gave him a shy smile. "Yes."

He caught her hand and raised it to his lips. "When would you like to move in?"

"Well, it's not like I really have much of anything to move. What about now?"

It took him a pair of heartbeats to recover from his astonishment. "If you so wish," he answered. He turned her hand over and traced the lines on her palms. "Do you wish to seal the protection tonight, as well?"

"Ummm..." she stammered, blushing as she caught his meaning.

"It can wait, if you are not ready," he assured her, feeling a bit perplexed. She was utterly unflappable in battle, yet she was clearly quite flustered by this simple conversation, "The offer of protection is not considered sealed until it is consummated, but there is no reason why it must be done immediately." It just had to be done before the Syndic that was intended for him arrived.

"No, I ummm. I do want to. I just... Can I have a few minutes?"

"Of course," he sad, releasing her hand. He watched her as she disappeared into the 'fresher. He made a few preparations himself and sat down on the bed to wait for her. He wasn't quite sure how he had expected to her to react, but he certainly hadn't anticipated that she would be so willing to jump into this. _Her bravery will never cease to amaze me_, he thought. _Or is it recklessness? _

He was starting to get impatient when the 'fresher door finally opened. His breath caught in his throat as he looked up and saw her standing there, arms crossed over her chest as if to preserve her modesty. She looked shyly in his direction but didn't quite meet his eyes. "You are beautiful," he breathed.

She blushed and let her arms drop to her side, hesitating for another moment before she crossed to the bed. She perched next to him and slowly drew her feet up until she was sitting cross-legged. He reached out and ran his fingertips down her bare shoulder.

"You're trembling," he observed, his forehead creasing in concern as he let his hand fall to the bed. "We do not have to do this tonight."

She glanced at him briefly, then back down at his hand. "It's not that," she said, winding her fingers through his. "It's just... well, I've never been with anyone before." He nodded in understanding; she was nervous. "And, for the Jedi, it is forbidden." Finally, she met his gaze. "If I do this, I can never go back."

Thrawn sat back, stung slightly. "If you aren't sure..."

"No," she interrupted him, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I want to. I've spent nearly four hundred years serving others, but I never realized how lonely I was. Not until I met you. I don't want to go back to that. I will spend the rest of my days here with you, Thrawn. The Chiss are my people, now. I-" Her voice caught in her throat. Neither of them had ever actually said it out loud. "I love you."


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

For a moment as she woke up, Chiara thought that last night had been a dream. It came as quite a surprise when she rolled over, still half asleep, and bumped into Thrawn's chest. She felt her jaw drop open in surprise. _That wasn't a dream, it actually happened, _she thought in amazement. On one hand, it had seemed a little fast, given that their relationship was only a few weeks old, but on the other hand, she had already caught a glimpse of their future from the Force. Accepting his offer of protection had seemed as natural as breathing, even if she hadn't quite been prepared for everything that came after. He had been so gentle and tender that any lingering unsurety she'd had had quickly vanished.

She watched him sleep quietly, her eyes roving over the perfect planes of his bare chest and his sculpted muscles. After a few minutes, he stirred and opened his eyes. "Hi," she said, resisting the urge to grab for the sheet that had slipped half-way down her torso.

"Good morning," he said, pulling her close enough to kiss her forehead, then her nose. She tilted her head back so that her lips met his.

"What time do you need to be on duty?" Chiara asked when they finally paused for breath.

"I believe I am going to take today off," he told her, running his fingers down her side and sending a shiver of pleasure through her.

"Can you do that?"

He shrugged. "Warriors and officers alike are supposed to receive a day off each week. I haven't taken a day off in quite some time. I don't think anyone will complain. What would you like to do, today?"

Smiling, Chiara moved closer and made it very clear exactly what she wanted to do.

* * *

It was nearly lunch time by the time Chiara and Thrawn finally emerged from his quarters and headed to the mess hall to eat. Chiara instinctively knew that Thrawn would find any public displays of affection to be uncomfortable and kept a bit of space between them as they ate. When they had finished, Thrawn suggested she stop by her old quarters to pick up her things. When she got back to his - no, their quarters, Thrawn was rearranging the things middle drawer that was set into the wall. He turned to her as she came in.

"I cleared this drawer for you," he told her, indicating the top drawer.

Chiara laughed. "I hardly think I need an entire drawer, Thrawn. I just need a little corner." She crossed and put her neatly folded clothes in the drawer. Her four changes of clothes and one datapad took up hardly any space.

"Is that all you have?" Thrawn asked, wrinkling his forehead.

"Yes, why?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, almost to himself. "All of your other possessions would have been left behind when you came here."

She looked at him, confused. "What other possessions? I've never even had this much, before."

Thrawn stared. "You've never even had four spare sets of clothes, before?" he asked incredulously. Chiara shook her head. "Clearly, I didn't fully grasp the depths of the voluntary poverty to which the Jedi are accustomed. You truly own nothing?"

"No. Most Jedi just have the clothes on their back, plus one or two spare sets. More than that is considered excessive."

"Well, what's mine is yours, now, so everything here belongs to you," he told her. Chiara glanced around the room, trying to wrap her head around the idea of owning so much. Her gaze fell on the table and the neat stacks of datacards that sat behind Thrawn's datapad. The datapad, she noted, had been moved from where it sat when they left for the mess hall.

"You just couldn't do it, could you?" she asked, picking up the datapad. "You couldn't go an entire day without doing at least a little bit of work."

"I was simply checking to see if there were any updated reports from the _Whirlwind_," he told her.

"I didn't know you had gotten any reports from them, at all. What did they find?" she asked.

"You were correct in your hunch; there was indeed a base there that seemed to belong to the invaders, but we were too late in getting there. There was no sign of them left."

"How long have they been gone?"

Thrawn ran one hand through his hair in what Chiara had come to recognize as a sign of frustration or stress. "Less than two days. I should have believed you and taken the _Springhawk_ to look into it immediately. If I had, we could possibly have neutralized this threat by now, or at least have found the coordinates to their home base, if this was not it."

"You're not the first one to mistrust my hunches. But maybe in the future, when I tell you something has to do with my Jedi insight or other abilities, you could actually take my word for it," she suggested.

"I most certainly will," he promised. "I don't suppose you can look at a star chart again and find where they have gone?"

She shook her head. "If only it worked that way. I can try, though."

Thrawn took the datapad from her and pulled up the proper file, then handed it back. She studied it for several minutes, listening intently for even the slightest whisper from the Force. Eventually, she gave up. "I'm sorry," she told him, giving the datapad back. "I'm not getting anything."

"It's not your fault," he assured her. "Perhaps the _Whirlwind _will find something left behind that will help us."

* * *

They spent the rest of the afternoon together, reading to each other (though they seldom got more than a few chapters done at a time before their scholarly pursuits were interrupted by their more carnal instincts). When they finally went to bed in the evening, Chiara lay with her head resting on his bare shoulder, his arms wound tightly around her waist. "I wish we could do this for a few more days," she sighed.

Thrawn kissed her forehead. "As do I."


	28. Chapter 28

AN: Sorry for the delay in posting, guys, chaos broke loose at my barn and I've spent the last two days trying to manage health issues for my horse and the horse that I am watching while his owner is out of town. And this is on top of the 60 hours I'm working this week. Life is barking mad, I tell you!

InYourNightmares, thank you so much for your review! You have no idea how happy it made me when I got the notification on it in the midst of the insanity of the last two days. It definitely brought a smile to my face. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story as much as you have the beginning!

* * *

**Chapter 28  
**

They were having dinner in the mess hall two days later when Thrawn's comlink chirped, interrupting their quiet conversation. "Captain, the Admiral requests your presence immediately in her office," Commander Ina'tin'scalin informed him when he answered.

"On my way," Thrawn answered, already rising to clear away their dishes.

"I'll see you later, then," Chiara said, preparing to head back to their quarters.

"No, I think it would be best for you to accompany me," he told her.

She frowned. "Why? What's going on?"

"I don't know for certain, I only suspect. But you should come with me."

Thrawn lead the way to the office that Admiral Ar'alani had claimed as her own for the duration of her visit. He paused for just a moment outside, then squared his shoulders and went inside. Chiara followed a step behind, wishing he had at least given her something to go on. The Admiral was seated at the desk, flanked by Commander Ina'tin'scalin. A female Chiss whom Chiara had never seen before stood before the desk, dressed in a robe that was a patchwork pattern of burgundy and grey.

Ar'alani hissed as she caught sight of Chiara. "What is this outsider doing here?" Her eyes narrowed as she noticed that Thrawn was resting one hand on the small of Chiara's back in a very uncharacteristic public display of affection. "What have you done?" she demanded in horror.

"I have taken Jedi Master Chiara Matao under my protection," Thrawn answered simply.

All three Chiss stared at them in disbelief. The unfamiliar female seemed particularly distressed to Chiara. The Commander recovered his voice first. "What foolishness could possibly have possessed you to enter into such an unequal and damaging relationship?"

"She is a warrior of exceptional skill. I am a warrior, as well. I fail to see how we are unequal," Thrawn said coolly.

"She is not Chiss," Ina'tin'scalin bit out.

"And your offer of protection, has it been sealed?" Ar'alani cut in, clearly trying to find a way to get Thrawn out of what they saw as a reckless decision.

"It has," Thrawn answered. Chiara felt a blush creep up her neck as their private life was discussed so casually.

"When?" Ar'alani asked, a note of resignation creeping into her voice.

"Three days ago."

The Admiral sighed in frustration. "Then the purpose of this meeting is now void. Syndic Mitth'arl'isa traveled here from Csilla to be paired with you, but that is now impossible."

"Yes, it is," Thrawn agreed amiably.

Chiara frowned and glanced at the female Chiss. _Does that mean what I think it does?_

Ar'alani glared at him for a moment, then gestured abruptly to the door. "Get out."

Chiara waited until they got back to the privacy of their quarters before turning to look at Thrawn. "What was that?"

"The Admiral figured out that I was not going to take her advice about you and decided to take matters into her own hands by arranging for me to be paired with someone who she found more acceptable," he explained, sitting down on the couch and gesturing for her to join him. "Since you have already accepted my protection, though, her plan is no longer valid."

Chiara stayed where she was and crossed her arms over her chest, ignoring his invitation. "You knew," she accused. "You knew before you asked me to accept your protection. You did that just to avoid getting stuck in the Chiss version of an arranged marriage."

Thrawn looked a bit hurt by her tone and accusation. "Yes, I knew, but I had intended to ask you before any hint of their plan reached me. It forced me to act sooner than I otherwise would have, but I most certainly did not do it simply to get out of this pairing. I do love you, Chiara, and I was afraid of losing you to their scheme. I was not born to the Eighth Family, I was adopted as a Trial-born. As such, I am honor-bound to follow their directives, even if it goes against my own personal wishes. If I had waited and she arrived before I asked you, I would have had no choice but to accept the pairing."

"You still should have told me," she said, softening every-so-slightly at his explanation.

"Perhaps, but I didn't want you to feel rushed or forced into this. I wanted you to choose me of your own free will, not because you were sacrificing yourself again. And don't tell me that you wouldn't have done it just to save me from being paired to a woman I'd never even met, before," he said a bit sternly, cutting off her objection before she could get it out. "You have a habit of thinking of everyone else first and your own needs and desires last. It's both endearing and frustrating. I never know if you are agreeing to something because you truly want it, or if it is because you are simply trying to be a martyr."

That stung. "I'm not a martyr, I'm a Jedi." The words came out more sharply than she had intended. "My purpose and my life is to serve others. How can I serve if I am focused on what I want?"

"There is a difference between serving and making yourself a doormat for everyone to walk over. It is a balance, and one that you don't seem to understand," Thrawn pointed out, his tone cooling off by several degrees.

Chiara bit back a scathing retort and glared at him for a moment. She recognized that he was right and that fact burned her. Unable to stand his scrutiny any longer, she abruptly turned and fled out the door.

* * *

Chiara somehow ended up in her old quarters, not knowing where else to go. She sank down on the lower bunk and hugged her knees to her chest. She knew she was overreacting, but she didn't know why and she couldn't stop. _Great,_ she thought. _I can resolve conflicts for everyone else in the galaxy, but put me in one and I run away. This must be why attachment is forbidden. _Resting her forehead against her knees, Chiara reached out to the Force to calm herself.

She knew that there was an element of truth to what Thrawn had said. It wasn't the criticism that had upset her, though. Yoda and the other Council members were quite free with their criticism and she'd never had a problem with accepting and applying their words. What was it about this that was different? _It's because Thrawn is the first person whose opinion has ever really and truly mattered to me,_ she realized. Not that the Council and other Jedi hadn't mattered, but somehow, being in love with Thrawn made it different. Opening herself up to loving him made her feel vulnerable in a way she never had, before. He had her heart and if he changed his mind and rejected her, it would hurt her more deeply than anyone else ever could.

_It comes down to trust. _The irony of the fact that she had no problem trusting near-strangers with her life but was afraid the man she loved would break her heart wasn't lost on her. And, if she was completely honest with herself, it was also why she had been subconsciously doing whatever she thought Thrawn wanted and saying it was what she wanted, too. Part of it was that she wanted desperately to please him and the other was that a part of her was afraid that if she didn't, he would get tired of her.

_If I don't make a conscious decision to trust him, I will continue to push him away without meaning to and my fear will become a self-fulfilling prophecy._ Chiara took a deep breath. She'd known all along that the fact that she and Thrawn were from two different species and cultures was likely to cause some difficulty. She hadn't anticipated that her life as a Jedi would leave her so incapable of knowing how to react to being in a relationship, though. Their feeling for each other completely changed the way they related to each other and she frequently found herself feeling like a ship without a navcomp, blindly blundering her way through the night. _I suppose I had better go back and talk to him, _she decided. _Waiting is only going to make it worse._


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

Chiara paused outside the door to their quarters, taking a deep breath to prepare herself. When she keyed the control and the door slid open before her, she found Thrawn pacing the room in agitation. He stopped as she came in and looked at her with an expression so angry that she nearly fled back out the door. He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand to stop him.

"Thrawn, before you say anything, please let me speak," she begged him. "Hear me out, and then you can yell at me all you want." For a moment, she thought he was going to tear into her right there, but he finally sat down at the table, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair. She sat down across from him on the couch and stared at his boots, lost on how to proceed and feeling too embarrassed by her actions to look him in the eye.

"I'm sorry," she said simply. "I overreacted. You were in a very difficult situation, knowing what the Admiral was planning, and I know you did what you thought was best. And you're right, I'm a martyr. I also have no idea how to react to being in a relationship and I shouldn't have run away. Can you forgive me for the mess I've made?"

Thrawn exhaled sharply. "Chiara-" he broke off for a moment and then moved to sit next to her on the couch. He took her chin in one hand and gently forced her to meet his eyes. "Please look at me when I'm talking to you." She glanced down to where her hands lay clasped in her lap in embarrassment, then caught herself and met his gaze again. Most of the fire had left his eyes, leaving a slow smolder behind. "Of course I forgive you. I am as much to blame in this as you are. I should have at least told you about the Admiral's plan afterwards so that you weren't caught unawares when the Syndic arrived. And I shouldn't have called you a martyr," he said, giving her a half-smile. "Even if it is true. There are better and more constructive ways to discuss such things. Will you forgive me, as well?"

Unable to speak around the lump that had suddenly risen in her throat, she nodded. Thrawn leaned forward to kiss her forehead and she sighed and put her arms around him, relieved that he hadn't yelled at her. After a moment, she spoke. "You really are right about me always putting myself last. It's how the Jedi are, it's what gets preached to us day in and day out. Most Jedi spend their lives trying find the point where they can selflessly put the needs of others over their own, but after nearly 400 years of practice, I think I've gone a bit too far with it. I promise I will work on finding a better balance. I may need reminding, though."

"How would you like me to remind you without making you defensive?" Thrawn asked.

She considered. "I think I can react a little better, now, so I think whatever you do will be fine. It just caught me off guard to be criticized by you and I wasn't expecting it to hurt so much. It's not that I don't know how to take criticism in general, but somehow I took it differently because it was coming from you." She gestured helplessly. "Right now, I feel like even though I have spent my entire life mediating conflict, I have no idea how deal with one in my personal life and with someone who is so important to me. Even with other Jedi, the dynamic of our relationships were that of peers and colleagues; I've never had a relationship that went deeper than that, until now. It feels like completely uncharted territory. I'm going to have to ask you for some patience while I figure this out."

"Of course. It was not my intent to hurt you, Chiara, and I'm sorry that I did. I hadn't considered how much your background as a Jedi has shaped how you process and react to things and how different this must be for you. It makes sense that you don't know how to respond to a conflict between us and I will keep that in mind in the future," he told her.

"Can't we just skip the whole fighting thing in the future?" she asked.

That drew a chuckle from Thrawn. "Conflicts and disagreements are inevitable, especially given how different our backgrounds and cultures are. We will do a better job of resolving the next one before things escalate, though," he promised.

"Okay." Chiara scooted closer so she could lean her head against his shoulder. She closed her eyes and tried to relax as Thrawn stroked her hair.

"So," he said casually after a few minutes, "What would you like to do for the rest of the evening?"

She noted his slight emphasis on the word 'you' and groaned. "Do I really have to answer that? I think I've already done enough self-examination for one day. Can we put working on that off until tomorrow and just do whatever you want to do?"

In answer, Thrawn picked her up in one smooth motion and carried her over to the bed, his lips busy with hers and his fingers already working at the fasteners of her shirt.


	30. Chapter 30

AN: Thank you for the follow and favorite, and the review, Forged in Fire and Flame!

As always, reviews are much loved! Please let me know what you think.

* * *

**Chapter 30**

The next day, the Admiral sent Thrawn out on an extended surveillance expedition of the surrounding systems to look for any signs of the alien invaders. Ar'alani hadn't even given Thrawn five minutes to stop by the training center where Chiara was doing some light training to build back up her strength to say goodbye. She returned to their quarters and found a note he had left her on the table, sitting on top of a box she hadn't seen before. She moved the box aside and sat down, reading through the note again. Although brief, it was clear from the tone that Thrawn knew just as well as she did that this was a wild nerf chase meant to keep them apart. With the _Whirlwind_ still poking through the abandoned base they had located for clues of the invaders' location, it made no sense to send him out to randomly search for them.

When she went to eat a little while later, she noticed that the Admiral was already in the mess hall, having her own lunch. Chiara watched the Admiral out of the corner of her eye as she picked her lunch and looked for a place to sit. The Admiral seemed quite pleased with herself, a smug smirk tugging at one corner of her blue lips. _Is that how you want this to be? _She thought. _You think this is punishment for our actions? Fine. Two can play at this game. _She walked over to a nearby table where Mitth'is'arla sat by himself.

"Can I join you?" she asked.

Mitth'is'arla looked up in surprise. "Jedi Master Chiara Matao, please feel free."

"You can call me Chiara," she told him as she sat down.

He hesitated. "You may call me by my Core name, Thisa," he told her. Chiara smiled at him, recognizing that allowing her to call him by his Core name was a huge indication of respect.

They passed the meal amiably, chatting about their combat training and the battle they had shared. He was curious to hear about the Republic and what it was like to live in a culture that was so diverse and consisted of so many different species. Chiara noted with some satisfaction that the Admiral didn't look quite so smug when she finished her meal and left.

* * *

Chiara spent the next week and a half trying to pretend Thrawn's absence was affecting her anywhere near as much as it was. She got up every morning and went to the training center, where she spent a few hours building up back up her strength and sparring with the warriors. Many of them had begun to gain a respect for her after the battle, but as more and more of them challenged her to matches and she always came out victorious, their respect for her began to grow. To the Admiral's growing dismay, she seldom lacked for a companion at meal times or a partner for a game of _ch'etecisci. _What she didn't see was the way Chiara tossed and turned in bed at night, desperately missing Thrawn's strong arms and comforting touch. It came as somewhat of a relief when the Admiral was called to assist with an incident in a sector of Chiss space whose name Chiara couldn't even attempt to pronounce.

Thrawn had been gone for over two weeks when Chiara finally gave up the charade entirely. Commander Ina'tin'scalin seemed to have resigned himself to their relationship fairly quickly and, although gruff, always treated her with some degree of respect when he encountered her around the base. With Ar'alani gone, she couldn't quite see the point of wasting energy to keep up pretenses. When her new acquaintances noticed her shift in mood and asked her what was wrong at lunch, she just shrugged and said that she missed Thrawn. Two of the female warriors who were eating with her sympathized and told her how lucky she was to have him. That made her smile a bit. Yes, she was lucky, indeed.

* * *

It was nearing three weeks when Chiara woke early one morning to find Thrawn kissing her awake. Even before she was fully awake, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him onto the bed next to her. "I missed you," he murmured between kisses.

* * *

A few hours later, they lay quietly in each others arms, just enjoying each others company. Thrawn pushed a stray lock of hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear, his fingers lingering to trace the pointed tip of her ear. She shivered against his chest.

"Do you not like that?" he asked, stopping.

"No, it feels good," she told him, kissing his shoulder.

"Sometimes, I can't quite tell from your reactions," he observed, cocking one blue-black eyebrow at her.

She laughed. "I'm pretty sure you have yet to do anything I didn't like."

"And how did you like what I left you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked, frowning.

He pushed himself up on one elbow, still cradling her against his bare chest so he could look at the table. "You didn't open it," he said, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Open what?"

Thrawn slid out of the bed and crossed to the table. He came back and handed her the mysterious box that had been sitting there since he left. "This."

She looked at him, confused. "I didn't know I was supposed to. What is it?"

Thrawn raised one eyebrow at her. "You've never been given a present before, have you?"

Her eyes widened. "Is that what this is? I thought it was yours."

He shook his head at her as he sat back down on the bed and pulled her to him. "Well, are you going to open it, or just stare at it?" he asked in a teasing tone, kissing her neck.

"Only if you stop distracting me," she chastised him, pushing him back with one elbow. She studied the box for a moment, intrigued. He was right; other than being presented with a few tokens of appreciation at the close of some of her missions, she'd never been given anything. Those were always done so ceremoniously that a simple box under a note had never even occurred to her as something that was meant for her. She lifted the lid carefully and peered inside. Whatever it was, it was some sort of blue fabric. She set the lid aside and pulled out a blue tunic that was made in much the same style as her Jedi robes had been. Underneath was a set of grey pants that complimented the top.

"I thought we should fix the fact that you have never owned more than a few pairs of clothes," he explained. "These are fairly similar to the style you seem to prefer and I thought the color would compliment your eyes nicely."

She sat there staring at the clothes, unable to find any words to say. "Do you like it?" Thrawn prodded.

"It's perfect!" Chiara finally said. She jumped up off the bed and hurried to the 'fresher to put it on, then realized half way there that she hadn't thanked him. She went back and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." She disappeared into the 'fresher and came back out wearing her new outfit to stop in front of Thrawn. "What do you think?"

"If you have to be wearing clothes, it looks wonderful. I still prefer you without, though," he said, trying to keep a straight face.

"Aren't you cheeky, today!" Chiara teased. "Now, why don't you get dressed so we can go have breakfast?"


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

A few days later, Chiara woke in the middle of the night and sat up, her every sense tingling with danger.

"Chiara?" Thrawn said, waking up and putting a hand on her bare back. "What is it?"

"I don't know, something isn't right," she told him.

"Is it another invasion?" he asked, sitting up next to her.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. Be quiet for a minute and let me see if I can get a clearer picture." She closed her eyes and relaxed into the Force, letting it flow through her. A long moment passed before her eyes snapped open. "Thrawn," she said urgently. "You have to get the _Springhawk _into space. Now."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but please, you have to trust me," she pleaded.

Thrawn looked at her for a moment, seeming to be trying to decide whether or not he should trust her Jedi instincts. "Should I try get the other ships launch, too?" he finally asked.

"If you can, yes," she said tautly, going to the bank of drawers built into the far wall and retrieving her lightsaber.

"I think I can convince the _Whirlwind's_ captain. We'll call it a drill competition to see who can launch first." Thrawn keyed on his comlink and started issuing orders while he dressed.

* * *

It took about fifteen minutes for the cruisers to launch, followed by their escort of starfighters. The _Whirlwind'_s captain had readily accepted Thrawn's challenge, but the Commander had fairly snarled at Thrawn for waking him up and gone back to bed. Despite the bleary eyes of the crew members, the _Springhawk _was the first in the air, followed closely by the _Whirlwind_, which had returned empty-handed a few days before from the abandoned base. Chiara stood tensely behind Thrawn's command chair, watching the crew work and hoping desperately that she wasn't going to end up looking like an idiot because nothing happened.

No sooner had they cleared the atmosphere when there was a flicker of pseudomotion and an armada of ships dropped out of hyperspace. Chiara barely had time to register that they were of the same make as the alien invaders had been when they opened fire and started raining destruction down on the planet. The comm erupted into mass chaos as the base began broadcasting distress signals as Thrawn looked on in shock. Shaking free of her own horror at the massive deaths she could feel through the Force, Chiara touched Thrawn's shoulder.

"You have to do something," she choked out through the waves of death that assaulted her mind. "This is your moment, take command."

Thrawn looked at her for a moment and his shocked expression faded a bit as he turned his attention to the task at hand. He keyed his comm. "Fighters, screening formation. _Whirlwind_, I'm sending your coordinates, execute jump in 30 seconds," he said, tapping at his computer. "Prepare for combat maneuvers."

To Chiara's everlasting surprise, both cruisers and all nine fighters executed their microjump with absolute precision, raking the attacking cruisers with weapons fire the instant they dropped back out of hyperspace. She counted nine heavy cruisers, three smaller vessels and two flights of fighters in the attack force. The odds were certainly not in their favor. Their concentrated firepower managed to severely damage the nearest enemy before the rest of the fleet could respond. Two of the cruisers continued to rain destruction down on the planet while the other six moved in to support their failing comrade. The fighters swarmed around them, with two or three of the enemy fighters to each of the Chiss fighters. Still, the Chiss training was clearly superior and they worked together in perfect harmony to pick off the enemy fighters.

Chiara glanced at Thrawn's sensor board. The closest of the enemy cruisers had nearly completed its turn and would be able to open fire momentarily. At Thrawn's order, the _Springhawk _concentrated fire on the ship's engines. Chiara felt a deep sense of triumph as one of the lasers struck home and the engines exploded, sending the ship spiraling out of control. Her relief at this minor victory was abruptly overshadowed by a deep foreboding as the enemy commander tried to stabilize their flight with maneuvering thrusters that were never meant to operate without the support of the engines

"Thrawn, take us hard to port," she warned him, her stomach forming a hard knot as she watched the ship careen towards them. "They're going to try to ram us."

To her relief, Thrawn relayed her instruction without hesitation. Even with hard acceleration, they barely got out of the way in time. A few well-placed shots took out half of their maneuvering thrusters as the enemy ship roared past, leaving them with no chance at redirecting their course to get back into the battle.

Streaks of lights suddenly shot out from the attacking cruisers as they fired their missiles. The Chiss fighters moved to intercept them, getting the targeting locks to tag their ships instead of the less maneuverable cruisers. Chiara watched as the fighters jinked and weaved through the battle and rapidly expanding clouds of debris, trying to shake the missiles off. Abruptly, the fighters flipped over and dove towards the enemy cruisers. She was just beginning wonder if they were planning on ramming the enemy ships, themselves, when each fighter dropped a small wad of silvery material aft. She was still trying to figure out what it was when they enveloped the oncoming missiles and sent a jolt of energy through them, frying the homing system and propulsion alike. The missiles continued along their previous line of flight and slammed into the enemy cruisers, exploding on impact.

"Clever," she murmured. Not only had the fighters successfully used their Conner nets to knock out the targeting systems of the missiles, they had managed to do so in such a way that they turned their enemy's weapons against them. Two more of the cruisers were now out of the fight.

Thrawn was issuing a stream of commands on Cheunh to the _Whirlwind's _captain that Chiara couldn't quite keep up with. In near unison, the two cruisers swiveled around to target the engines of the nearest cruiser. It only took a few seconds for their engines to explode, sending them careening into one of their comrades. Both ships died a fiery death as a result of the collision. Clearly, Thrawn had been able to pinpoint a weak spot in the engine design when they disabled the first ship. _Five down, four to go_, she thought.

The two cruisers that had been pummeling the planetside base finally broke off their attack to join in the defense against Thrawn's small force. Eight of the Chiss fighters swarmed around the enemy ships, peppering them with laser fire and darting away before the larger ships could bring their weapons to bear on them. Chiara looked around for the ninth fighter and saw it drifting slowly through space, clearly incapacitated. She reached out towards the pilot with the Force and was relieved to find that he was still alive. The enemy fighters, she noted, had not been nearly so fortunate. Their broken and twisted hulks drifted slowly through space, a testament to the exceptional skill of the Chiss pilots.

The four remaining cruisers focused a withering rain of firepower on the _Whirlwind_, burning away at her hull. In response, the Chiss fighters closest to the ships dove towards them, dropping more Conner nets towards the weapons blisters on the enemy ships. Cruisers of that size would have defenses against this sort of trick, Chiara knew, but hopefully the few seconds it took for them to switch to backup power would buy the _Whirlwind _the time she needed to manuever her damaged flank away from the enemy guns.

On Thrawn's order, the _Springhawk _sent a cluster of missiles rocketing into the nearest ship, decimating its weapons blisters. The _Whirlwind _completed its roll to present its more armored belly to the enemy ships and released its own flurry of missiles at the ship closest to it just as their weapons came back online. The fighters swarmed over the two remaining ships, screaming along bare meters above their hulls and blasting away at them. At that close of range and given the poor design of the weapons blisters, the enemy gunners couldn't risk firing on the fighters without hitting themselves if they missed. As the damage to their ships mounted, the enemy commander abandoned caution and opened up on the fighters. At a command from Thrawn, the fighters broke off their strafing runs just as the enemy gunner opened fire. Their lasers shot through the space that the agile fighters had just vacated and raked deep blasts into their ship's own hull.

The _Whirlwind _joined the _Springhawk_ in a final salvo on the two damaged ships. With a brilliant flash, first one, then the other exploded.

"Well done," Thrawn said to his bridge crew as he reached for the shipwide comm. "Attention all warriors: Prepare to board the enemy craft. These aliens have proved before that they will sacrifice themselves in an attempt to keep us from obtaining information about them. We cannot let that happen again. It is of utmost importance that we take them alive so that we can backtrack them to their homeworld and eliminate this threat to the Ascendency." He flipped the comm back off and tapped at his control board. "Helm: bring us alongside this ship and begin boarding procedures." Thrawn stood and crossed to one of the lockers at the back of the bridge and pulled out two armored combat suits. "Would you care to join us?" he asked, offering one to Chiara.

"With pleasure," she told him, accepting the suit and climbing into it with sure, practiced motions.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

Chiara stood beside Thrawn just outside of the impromptu door that the _Springhawk_'s crew had cut in the side of the enemy ship, dressed in a combat suit identical to Thrawn's. Twenty-four warriors stood behind him, similarly suited up and toting charrics and a variety of other weapons.

"Try not to be reckless," Thrawn admonished her as he double checked the seal on her helmet.

She smiled at him. "I'll try."

"Can you warn us if we are walking into a trap?"

Chiara furrowed her brow. "Probably, but sometimes the warning comes only a split second before the trap gets triggered."

He nodded in understanding and turned back to his warriors. "You are to follow any orders from Jedi Master Chiara Matao as if they were my own." He took her hand for the briefest of moments, then said softly, "Lead the way."

Chiara ignited her lightsaber and took up a defensive position just inside the door. At her signal, the crew members activated the maglocks and pulled the impromptu door out from the other ship's hull. Blasterfire from inside erupted before it had even come fully free. Guided by the Force, Chiara's lightsaber wove a net of defensive energy, deflecting the bolts harmlessly into the ceiling. Charrics spat blue fire all around her as Thrawn and his warriors opened fire.

Once all of this group of aliens lay dead, Chiara turned briefly to Thrawn before they moved in. "You can't let all of your warriors open fire like that. This is too confined of a space and I'm going to end up accidentally deflecting a shot back at one of you. No more than three of you should be shooting at any time while we are in these corridors. Pick your targets carefully."

Thrawn nodded his understanding and relayed the order to his warriors, choosing his two best marksmen to join him at the front of the pack to pick off the enemies while Chiara held them at bay. She led them down to where their corridor bisected another and paused, stretching out with the Force to try and sense the location of their enemies. "There are two groups, one on each side of this intersection. They're hoping to catch us in a crossfire." She shot Thrawn a grin. "Obviously, they've never had a Jedi in a crossfire before. I'll handle this one."

She stepped smoothly into the opening, lightsaber already in motion as the two groups unleashed a withering hail of blasterfire on her from both sides. Thrawn felt his throat constrict in fear for her, but it quickly became evident that Chiara was more than capable of handling the situation. She moved with blinding speed, ducking, weaving and spinning, her lightsaber working the entire time to keep the deadly bolts at bay. It took less than two minutes for her to silence the aliens.

"You are incredible," Thrawn murmured to her as he joined her in the suddenly empty intersection. There were ten of the aliens lying in a heap to the right and another eight on the left. None of their fire had even come close to her.

"Which way to the bridge, do you think?" she asked.

Thrawn looked around, considering what little of the ship's design they had seen so far. "I believe it should be this way," he said, pointing down the lefthand branch of the corridor.

They hadn't gotten very far when Chiara stopped abruptly in mid-stride. Thrawn nearly walked into her, but stopped just in time and put out a had to steady her as she balanced on one foot. "Don't come any closer," she warned him. "I seem to have just stepped on a pressure-activated trigger plate. If I take any weight off this foot, it'll release the trigger. I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen then, but I think we can safely assume it won't be pleasant."

Thrawn holstered his charric and put one hand on each of her elbows to help her balance. "Yal'avi'kema, can you deactivate the device?" A young engineering tech stepped through the warriors and knelt next to Chiara, examining the decking plate that she was standing on.

"If I could get to the wiring beneath it, I believe so, Captain. We will need something to cut through the decking with, though," he told Thrawn.

"Use my lightsaber," she said to Thrawn, holding it out to him. Passing off the task of holding her steady to Yal'avi'kema for a moment, Thrawn carefully used the tip of the blade to cut through the decking. He clipped the lightsaber to his belt and moved back to help Chiara balance.

Yal'avi'kema dropped to his knees and produced a hand-held maglock from the pack that he carried. He carefully affixed it to the section of deck plating that Thrawn had cut away and lifted it out to reveal a mass of wires underneath. He studied the wires for a moment.

"Can you safely disarm it?" Thrawn asked.

The young tech nodded, digging through his pack for a tool to cut the wires. He snipped through two of them and was about to cut a third when Chiara's danger sense spiked. "Stop!" she snapped in alarm. Yal'avi'kema froze, his cutter poised around the wire. "Not that one," she told him in a more controlled tone, her heart pounding in her ears.

He carefully disengaged his tool from the wire in question and considered. He cut through three more wires before she felt the danger recede. Still, she held her pose until he had finished poking around in the compartment and declared the device safely deactivated.

"Thank you," she told him as she put her other foot back down and took her lightsaber back from Thrawn. "All right, people, watch where you step. Apparently, these guys are fond of booby traps."

They had barely made it another 20 meters down the corridor when another group of the aliens popped out of a room they passed and engaged them in close-quarters combat. Afraid to risk hitting one of the nearby Chiss warriors with her lightsaber, Chiara resorted to using the Force to hurl enemy combatants into the wall. She'd left three of them crumpled in heaps by the time the Thrawn's warriors finished dealing with the rest of them.

"Well, this is a fun little bonding experience," she muttered to Thrawn as they set off again. He just smiled at her through his helmet and shook his head.

A few meters ahead of them was another cross-section of corridors. Suddenly, one of the aliens appeared around the corner for just long enough to lob some sort of grenade at them. Chiara's hand snapped up, palm outward, as she used the Force to reverse its flight and throw it back down the corridor. Even with it landing nearly fifteen meters away, the shock wave from the explosion was enough to knock her back into Thrawn. They staggered back into a bulkhead as a wave of the enemy combatants boiled out of cover in the other corridor and opened fire on them. She pushed off Thrawn's chest and hurled herself towards the aliens, her lightsaber working in a blinding blur to fend off the attack. Thrawn and his two designated marksmen began carefully picking off the aliens around her. Chiara swore and nearly dropped her lightsaber when a blue bolt from one of the charrics burned past her hand, scorching the skin. She waited until they had finished off that group before turning to glare at Thrawn.

"That was you, wasn't it?"

Thrawn looked chagrined. "I'm sorry. Is it bad?"

Chiara examined the burned skin and shook her head. "It'll be fine. Please try not to kill me, though, okay?"

"I'll do my best," he told her drily. "I believe we should go that way." He pointed to the corridor branching off to the left.

The closer they got to the bridge, the stronger the resistance grew. Chiara was able to help them avoid triggering any of the pressure-sensitive traps that littered the corridors with increasing frequency and they made it as far as the bridge without any casualties. Chiara was sweating heavily and her muscles burned from the exertion of trying to keep up with the intensity of the blasterfire by the time they had the final group of defenders pinned down against the bridge door. Thrawn had sent half of his force to take control of the engineering section of the ship a short time before, just in case the aliens tried to induce a meltdown in the hyperdrive to destroy the ship when it became apparent that their capture was inevitable.

"Be ready for anything," Thrawn warned his warriors as they finally stood alone outside the bridge doors. "They will sacrifice themselves to keep us from capturing the ship, if they can." He reached over and keyed the door control, but nothing happened. Yal'avi'kema moved forward to see if he could find a way to override the door lock.

Chiara rolled her eyes and stepped around them, plunging her lightsaber up to the hilt in the door. A blast door rumbled down from above to seal the bridge, but the material wasn't strong enough to stand up to her lightsaber blade. She cut through it with a few quick swipes and then stood back.

"Ready?" she asked, looking at Thrawn. He nodded. Chiara aimed a kick at the section she had just cut and vaulted through the opening, striking out at the nearest crew member and cleaving him in half before he could even fire. The other warriors poured through the opening behind her and quickly spread out through the bridge. The alien commander snarled something in a language that Chiara didn't recognize and reached for a button on his control board. Knowing instinctively that he was trying to trip a deadman's switch, Chiara abruptly halted her attack on the bridge crew and extended a hand towards the commander, yanking him from his chair with the Force and dangling in the air, yowling in surprise and indignation. It didn't take long for Thrawn and his warriors to secure the bridge around her.

"Would someone like to put some binders on this one?" she asked drily, her forehead wrinkling in concentration as she continued to hold the alien aloft and away from any controls. "He seems to be intent on blowing us all up, and I can't keep him here all day."


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

By the time they had subdued the resistance on two or the three remaining enemy ships, it was nearly midday. Chiara was so exhausted as she stood on the bridge of the _Springhawk _and watched as the helmsman began to maneuver them into position to board the last ship that she almost didn't react to the prickling sense of danger in time. They just barely had enough time to raise shields and punch engines to gain a bit of distance before the final ship exploded. Apparently, the commander of the ship had decided he didn't stand a chance at withstanding Thrawn's boarding party after watching as they successfully boarded and subdued the other three ships in a matter of hours.

"That was a little too close," Thrawn muttered as a few pieces of wreckage bounced off the bridge viewport.

"Sorry," Chiara apologized. "I should have caught that sooner."

"You have nothing to apologize for," he told her. "You have saved us all more than a dozen times today and you still caught this one in time."

Thrawn issued a few more orders to the bridge crew, then lead Chiara to a room positioned just off the bridge. He sat down at a long couch that faced the viewport and eased her down beside him. She rested her head wearily against his shoulder as they thumbed through the reports from the battle that were already pouring in to their datapads.

After a few minutes, Thrawn's comlink chirped. "Sir, we've just re-established contact with the base. The damage is extensive, but most of our people made it out of the barracks alive before they were hit," the communication's officer told him.

"I want detailed damage reports as soon as possible. What orders do we have from the Commander?" Thrawn asked.

There was a pause. "He's dead, sir. He was heading for the _Nightshade_ when the hangar was hit."

Thrawn inhaled sharply. "That is most unfortunate. Put me through to the _Whirlwind._"

"Yal'ass'aimo, have you heard the report about the Commander?" Thrawn asked without preamble when the _Whirlwind_'s captain answered.

"I have," he said gravely. "I presume you are calling to discuss command duties. I propose this: that you take command in his stead."

Thrawn blinked in surprise. "You have a great deal more command experience than I do, Captain Yal'ass'aimo," he pointed out.

"Yes, but you are the better tactician and commander. You are the one who lead us to victory without losing a single Chiss life against the invading ships. You will do a much better job of getting us all out of this alive than I ever could."

Thrawn acquiesced and signed off after giving Yal'ass'aimo his first command; to return to the base to organize the search and rescue efforts and also so that the medics could utilize the medical facilities on his ship to treat the wounded, since the medbay on the base had been irreparably damaged.

"I'm sorry about the Commander," Chiara said, putting her hand gently on his arm.

"Such are the fortunes of war," he said grimly, pulling her closer and kissing her cheek. "If it weren't for you, we would all be dead by now."

Not sure how to respond to that, Chiara turned her attention back to the reports that continued to flow in. She tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.

"You look exhausted," Thrawn observed. "Why don't you go back to our quarters and rest? I doubt you can make heads or tails out of these reports right now, anyway."

She shook her head stubbornly. "I'm fine. Besides, you didn't get any more sleep last night than I did."

"No, but I'm not the one who spent hours in intense physical combat to defend my warriors. I simply stood behind you and picked off the enemy at my leisure," he pointed out.

Chiara rolled her eyes. "We both know it wasn't _that_ easy on you. Besides, you need me to help you get through these reports." She turned her attention back to the report she had been reading.

"Chiara?"

"Hmm?" she answered, feigning interest in the report that she had pulled up on her screen.

"That martyr thing we talked about? You're doing it again."

"Okay, okay! I'm going," she said, putting the datapad down and raising her hands in surrender. She crosssed the room and paused just inside the door to look back at him. "Thrawn, you were magnificent, today."

"So were you."

* * *

Chiara had to stop and find a crewer to direct her to their quarters. Thankfully, all of the crew seemed to be aware of the fact that their Captain had taken her under his protection and he didn't question her about her business in Thrawn's quarters. She was so tired that she barely noticed the artwork that decorated his quarters on the _Springhawk _in much the same fashion as in his quarters on the base.

She fumbled around in his drawers for a minute before realizing that all of her clothes were now destroyed in the ruined barracks on planet below them. Too tired to worry about finding something that would fit, she pulled one of the Thrawn's shirts out and stumbled into the 'fresher. She stood in the shower for what seemed like ages, letting the water wash away the salt and grime that had accumulated under her combat suit as they moved throughout the enemy ships. The pounding spray of the water kneaded away some of the ache in her muscles.

_Thrawn was right, _she thought as she pulled his shirt over her head. _I'd never be able to focus enough on those reports to be of any help, right now_. She climbed wearily into bed, falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

A few hours later, Chiara rejoined Thrawn in Forward Visual One, wearing a fresh uniform that she had borrowed from one of Thrawn's warriors. He was so intent on the report he was studying that he didn't hear her come in.

"I brought you something to eat," she said, setting a tray of food on the table that stood at the end of the couch.

Thrawn looked up from his datapad in surprise. "You're back already?"

Chiara laughed. "I think someone lost track of time, again. It's been nearly three hours."

"Has it?" Thrawn asked, accepting a bowl of _buzim_ stew from her.

"How are the interrogations coming? Any luck in finding out where they came from?" She asked it more to show interest than she did in the expectation that they would have found anything, yet.

Thrawn gave her a grimly satisfied smile. "We've just gotten the location of their homeworld."

Chiara stared at him, her stomach tying itself into knots. "I don't even want to know what your interrogators had to do to get results so quickly."

"We would never resort to such barbaric treatment of prisoners," he told her stiffly. "We were able to extract their course from their navcomps."

"That was fast. I figured it would take several days to do that, at least," she said, feeling a bit embarrassed at having been so ready to jump to conclusions. _I should know him well enough to know that he wouldn't do something like that. He may be passionate about protecting his people, but not at the expense of his morals. He is no monster, he is a very exceptional man._

"Normally, you would be right, but these aliens seem to be relatively undeveloped and their coding was fairly basic. I also happen to have an excellent slicer on my crew."

"I see," she said, sitting down next to him with her own bowl of stew. "So where is this homeworld?"

Thrawn passed her his datapad and pointed to a not-too-distant system on the star chart. "It is approximately eight hours from us," he told her, eyes glittering.

"You already have a plan, don't you?"

"I do," he confirmed. "Though it hinges upon us being able to get the _Nightshade_ out of the hangar. I found several samples of artwork on one of their ships and I believe I have a good sense of how they will respond to an attack on their homeworld. Early analysis of the military data we've been able to slice indicates that the rest of their fleet consists of only a dozen capital ships and a handful of escorts. It would seem that they have recently begun an aggressive expansion into nearby space and don't yet understand the dangers of over-extending themselves or of allowing all of their forces to be consolidated into a single place."

"And you intend to educate them."

Thrawn gave her a deadly smile. "Someone has to do it. According to the orders we found in their computer, all of their forces are scheduled to regroup at their homeworld in three days. My plan is to take the two operational vessels to infiltrate their ground base. Once the ground team is in place, I will bring in our ships for a coordinated air and ground strike. They are not psychologically capable of responding effectively to simultaneous threats."

"Where does the _Nightshade_ fit into this?" Chiara asked.

The corners of Thrawn's mouth tightened briefly. "I strongly suspect they will put their concentration on their response to the threat from space. With only three cruisers and fifteen fighters, we will be hard pressed to hold them off. If the _Nightshade_ is too badly damaged or we can't get her out of the hangar..."

Chiara nodded. "We'll be too outgunned."

"Exactly. We will be landing in the morning to assess the situation. It will be dark soon, so there is no point in doing it sooner - better to give the techs more time to familiarize themselves with the controls of the captured ships."

"What will you do with the prisoners?" she asked.

"A holding facility is being prepared for them on the surface. They will be held there as prisoners of war until they can be taken to Csilla and dealt with properly."

* * *

They spent the rest of the evening discussing ground attack strategies as more and more data came in from Thrawn's slicer. It seemed that there was a fairly large defensive grid on the ground that protected their base that consisted of twenty-two large laser canons, which would pose a problem for Thrawn's ships. The ground team would need to disable the grid before his ships could safely come out of hyperspace.

"Who will be leading the ground forces?" Chiara asked.

"I haven't made the final decision, but it will either be Prard'ath'onisi or Kres'hast'antro," Thrawn told her.

"Hmm," Chiara said absentmindedly, mostly talking to herself. "I probably should make sure I talk to whomever you choose ahead of time so we can work together more effectively."

"I wasn't planning for you to be in the ground attack," Thrawn stated calmly.

Her eyebrows shot up. "What? Where else were you planning on using me, then?"

"I would prefer for you to be on the bridge, with me," he told her.

"Why? What good will I be to you there?" she demanded.

"I would rather than you not be down on the planet while I am on the _Springhawk_. It's too dangerous," he answered.

"And storming enemy ships all day with you wasn't?" Chiara asked incredulously.

"That was different," Thrawn said, his voice going a bit stiff.

Chiara opened her mouth to reply, but caught herself just in time. She stared very hard at her empty bowl of stew, trying to find something appropriate to say. She could feel Thrawn's eyes on her as she tried to sort through the roil of thoughts and emotions that his words had provoked in her. Thrawn waited for another minute, then reached out to touch her arm. "Chiara?"

Chiara brushed off his touch and stood, going over to the viewport to stare out at the stars.

"Chiara..." he started, sounding worried.

Chiara held up a hand to silence him. "Give me a minute."

_He doesn't want me going down there without him. He's somehow afraid that if he isn't there, something will happen to me. That is utterly ridiculous, though. Doesn't he trust me? _She took another moment to take stock of her emotions and reactions before going to back to sit next to Thrawn.

"Thrawn," she began carefully, trying to keep her tone soft. "I understand that you want me to be safe, but I need you to understand how this makes me feel. When you tell me it's 'too dangerous,' I hear you telling me that I'm not a competent warrior. It makes me feel like you don't trust me and it makes me resent you for being overprotective. It also makes me fell like you are asking me to sacrifice the lives of the warriors whom I could protect so that you don't have to worry. Now, if you have other reasons that I'm overlooking, I would like to hear them so that we can come to a mutually agreeable solution to this."

Thrawn sighed, his face troubled. "Of course I trust you and I think you are a competent warrior. How could I not, after everything I have seen you do? But what if something happens to you? How could I live with myself, knowing that I gave the orders that sent you to your death?"

"Can you live the the knowledge that you sent dozens of your warriors to their deaths because I wasn't there to save them?" she countered gently. "Life is full of risks, Thrawn. You can't keep me locked away from them without damaging at least some part of what you love about me. I've managed to live for almost 400 years and been in more fights than I can count without you coddling or protecting me. I think I can do it again. And that was before I even had such a compelling reason to come home safe."

"And what is that?" Thrawn asked, still not looking quite convinced.

"You," she said simply, kissing him on the cheek. "If you really can't stand the thought of me being down there without you, then I will stay with you for this one. But we will have to work something out for the future that you and I can both live with."

Thrawn stared at her for a moment, the conflict evident on his face. Finally, he spoke. "Will you promise me not to do anything reckless?"

"I give you my word on my honor as a Jedi that I will do everything in my power to come back to you," she assured him.


	35. Chapter 35

AN: Stardust585, I'm glad you're still enjoying it! I've been trying to think about the issues that are likely to come up as a result of their inter-species relationship, and also because she's a Jedi and totally unprepared for this sort of thing. Interestingly enough, one of my beta readers said the same thing about unicorns and rainbows (except she said kittens and rainbows). I couldn't resist making a photo manip just for her that had kittens climbing on Thrawn under a rainbow. :p The battles are definitely a challenge for me to write and take a great deal of time, so I'm glad you think it was well done.

**Chapter 35**

Three days later, Thrawn and Chiara sat together once more in Forward Visual One, going over the details of the plan one last time. Technically speaking, Lieutenant Kres'hast'antro would be leading the ground forces, since Chiara had no official standing in the Expansionary Defense Fleet, but she had spent a lot of time with Thrawn to develop the plan of attack for the groundside attack. The entire operation had nearly been scrapped due to the _Nightshade_ being buried under rubble that was too large for any of their equipment to move, but Chiara had been able to use her Jedi powers to levitate even the largest piece out of the way. The ship had taken some damage, but it was still flyable and fit for battle. Now, just a few hours before the scheduled rendezvous with at the enemy base, Thrawn's forces plus one of the captured vessels huddled together in space in a short jump away from the planet.

"Remember that timing is crucial. Don't destroy the power grid to their defense system too soon and give yourselves away. If it is timed correctly, they should be too busy responding the battle group to worry about you on the ground," Thrawn reminded her.

"I know. I'll make sure the Lieutenant waits," she assured him. Her wrist chrono beeped at her. "That's my cue. I had better go collect my gear and get over to the ship."

Thrawn rose with her from the couch and walked with her over to the door. Chiara halted just inside the door and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you in a few hours," she told him.

Thrawn couldn't quite hide his concern as he folded her protectively in his arms. "Remember what you promised me. Don't take any unnecessary risks and don't be reckless."

Chiara kissed him again, this time on the lips. "I remember. I promise I'll be careful." Thrawn bent his lips to hers again with a feeling of urgency, as if he was afraid he might never get to hold her in his arms and kiss her again. Chiara ran one hand through his short, blue-black hair, twisting it around her fingers. "Are you sure you're okay with this? I will stay with you if you ask it of me."

Thrawn shook his head, his arms tightening around her waist. "No, you were right, I cannot hold you back out of fear of losing you. You are a capable warrior and I trust you. Just don't get all noble and self-sacrificing, down there."

"I won't," she promised. "You be careful, too. It will be small comfort to me if I fulfill my promise, only to find that the _Springhawk _was destroyed."

He smiled at her. "There is small risk of that. I've studied them enough that I believe I can predict how they will react. It will be fine."

"I know," she said simply, laying her head on his shoulder. They stood there together for a few moments, both knowing that they needed to attend to their final preparations, but neither wanting to be the one to break their embrace.

Finally, Thrawn kissed her forehead one last time and whispered, "I love you," before releasing her and stepping away. "May warrior's fortune smile on your efforts," he added.

"I love you. I'll see you in a few hours. May the Force be with you." Chiara turned and headed towards the boarding tunnel that had been extended between the _Springhawk _and the enemy ship, desperately hoping that they would indeed see each other again.

* * *

A few hours later, Chiara stood just inside the hatch of the enemy ship with a group of warriors whom Thrawn had hand-picked for the ground assault. They had managed to bluff their way through landing without responding to any of the hails directed at them by pretending that their ship was so badly damaged that the communications array was knocked out. With the way their weapons pods were decimated, it probably wasn't too hard for the aliens to believe that their lack of response really was due to a communications array failure, rather than suspecting the truth. Undoubtedly, it wouldn't take them too long to catch on once they opened the hatch and charged out at the enemy. Chiara took a deep breath and opened herself to the Force, preparing for the battle that she knew was to come.

She was so focused on running through the plan one last time in her head that it came as a bit of a surprise when someone gripped her by the arm and pulled her back several paces through the group of warriors. Chiara opened her eyes to see that it was Lieutenant or Kres'hast'antro. "Lieutenant, what is going on?" she asked, trying unsuccessfully to shake him off.

His glowing eyes burned into hers and his fingers tightened around her bicep. "I want to make one thing very clear to you before we start this mission: you are here solely because you the Captain ordered me to bring you. I don't care of you are his plaything or not, you are not Chiss and you do not belong here. If you get in my way, I will kill you. If you attempt to give my warriors any orders, I will kill you. In fact, if you do anything at all that I find remotely suspicious, I will kill you and rid the Captain of your influence. Do we understand each other, or shall I just dispose of you now before you can disrupt my mission?"

"I understand you perfectly," Chiara said coldly, prying his fingers off her arm. Great. Almost all of the warriors on the base seemed to have accepted her by this point, but she got stuck with the one officer who still viewed her as an outsider. She'd been too busy and too occupied to pick up on his thinly veiled hostility before and now it was too late to try and do anything about it. She would just have to do her best to not provoke him.

The Lieutenant moved off and started issuing final orders to his warriors. "Are you alright?" a voice asked softly from Chiara's right.

"Thisa! I didn't know Thrawn assigned you to the ground attack," she said in surprise as she turned to find Mitth'is'arla at standing at her elbow. "I'm fine, thanks. Just need to keep out of the Lieutentant's way, apparently. I didn't realize he disliked me so strongly."

"It's nothing personal," Thisa assured her. "He's just a bit more of an extremist than the rest of us are when it comes to isolationist beliefs and accepting outsiders. And he thinks you're going to destroy the Captain's military career and warp his thinking with your foreign ideas."

Chiara snorted softly. "Me, warp Thrawn's thinking? Like that's going to happen. You'd better get back to wherever you're supposed to be before the Lieutenant catches you over here and decides to execute me on the spot for inspiring treason in the ranks." She winked at him so he would know she wasn't entirely serious.

At a word from the Lieutenant, they lowered the boarding ramp and began hurrying out into the open air. They had deliberately landed near the edge of the clearing and where a large clump of trees grew. Chiara glanced at the other ships that had landed and was pleased to note that many of them had obvious signs of damage, probably from their most recent attacks on other systems. That would make them a bit easier for Thrawn to deal with when they got back in the air when he arrived. She hurried along beside Thisa, every sense alert for danger.

They just had made it into the concealing thicket of trees when a group of aliens approached the ship they had just left, probably to see why their comrades weren't answering any hails. The Lieutenant waited until they had reached the base of the boarding ramp and then triggered the explosives that filled the ship's hold. From the outside, it looked like the engines were failing - a black smoke came pouring from the engines and flames licked hungrily out. Two of the aliens began speaking urgently into comlinks, probably calling for a tech crew to assist with stabilizing the engines. With a deafening explosion that rocked the ground, the engines exploded- or that was what it looked like from the outside. Chiara knew that the timer had simply run out and set off the explosives.

The Lieutenant lead them through the thick undergrowth towards the defensive grid that lay about two miles from their current location. They made the trek to the grid without incident and paused in the cover of the trees to assess the defenses and alien patrols that were moving about. According to the plan, they were supposed to make their way to the central building in the grid, which provided power to the weapons. If they didn't disable the grid, not only would Thrawn have to face the military might of the alien fleet, he would also have to deal with the destructive firepower from these ground emplacements. Although Chiara knew they were hard to fire accurately into space, the sheer balance of probabilities of the two dozen weapons that dotted the clearing would make it likely that at least some of the shots would hit their targets.

As they watched the three patrols of two guards each move about the defensive grid, a subtle feeling of dread settled in Chiara's stomach. Why would they leave their best defense so grossly unguarded? True, they were relatively new to interstellar war and didn't know yet that their were insurgents on the ground, but she had a hard time believing that they could truly be so naive. Those patrols looked too casual as they went about their routine. _They either know we are here, or they suspect_, she realized. Their feigned communications trouble and engine malfunction hadn't fooled the aliens.

The Lieutenant chose that moment to start giving quiet orders to the warriors. "The patrols seem to be moving in a pattern. We will split up and take them all simultaneously as they pass closest to the outer edges of the grid." He broke their small force into three groups and assigned each of them a patrol group to intercept and destroy.

When he neared her, Chiara stepped up to him. "This doesn't feel right," she told him. "I think we are walking into a trap."

The Lieutenant turned his glowing eyes on her. "I did not ask for your opinion," he told her coldly. "Either remain silent or remain here."

Chiara watched him walk off, fighting back her frustration. _He's going to get them all killed,_ she thought. And if their mission failed, there would be no way to warn Thrawn before he dropped out of hyperspace right on top of them. There was a good chance that the defensive grid would be able to shoot the _Springhawk_ out of the sky before Thrawn's crew could calculate another jump to get them back out. She also knew that Thrawn would never leave her here on the planet. Suddenly, insisting that he let her join the ground attack didn't sound like quite such a good idea.

At a signal from the Lieutenant, the warriors split off into three groups and approached their designated patrols. Chiara drew her lightsaber, every sense alert and straining to find the ambush that she was sure was coming. The Chiss sharpshooters picked off the patrols with admirable accuracy and coordination, leaving the compound seemingly unguarded. At another sign from the Lieutenant, they headed in. They had just passed the first of the gun emplacements and were making their way inwards towards the power bunker when the steel jaws of the alien trap sprang shut on them.


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

The air around them erupted in laserfire as the aliens who had been concealed behind the gun emplacements boiled out of their hiding places and opened fire. Chiara ignited her lightsaber with a snap-hiss and leaped into motion, defending her comrades as best she could. Thisa stood back-to-back with her, picking off the aliens that had moved in behind them to cut off their escape. The other four warriors clustered around them, methodically working together to pick off their attackers, but they were impossibly outnumbered and pinned down in the open space between the laser canons. Chiara's stomach lurched as she saw one of the warriors in the Lieutenant's group fall with a smoking hole in his chest.

A shiny silver object arced through the air towards them. Recognizing it as a thermal grenade, Chiara paused in her intricate dance of defense to raise a hand, palm outwards, towards the deadly explosive. It reversed direction and landed back at the feet of the surprised alien who had thrown it and went off with a deafening roar. Her satisfaction at the havoc the explosion caused on the enemy ranks was short lived as a blasterbolt made it past her in the split second it took her to redirect the thermal grenade and struck Thisa in the shoulder. He lurched forward with a cry and went sprawling into the grass.

"Thisa!" Chiara called, whipping her lightsaber back into action. The other warriors converged on him, unleashing a hail of charric fire on the closest of the aliens, discouraging them from taking advantage of Thisa's vulnerable position.

Thisa groaned behind her and groped around with one hand for the charric that he had dropped. He rolled over and snapped-fired a bolt into one of the aliens that had crept in too close while she was distracted. "Keep going," he ground out. "Leave me here."

"I don't leave people behind," Chiara told him, thinking furiously. Retreating wasn't an option. If they didn't destroy the power supply to the defensive grid, Thrawn's force wouldn't last more than a minute after they dropped out of hyperspace and they had no way of warning him away. A brilliant flash to her left distracted and momentarily blinded her. She blinked against the purple afterimages that the explosion left behind, relying on the Force rather than her vision to guide her. When her vision cleared enough for her to look towards the source of the explosion, her stomach lurched. The Lieutenant's group of warriors had been all but decimated by another thermal detonator. The Lieutenant himself had taken the brunt of the blast, though two other warriors had seemed to have extensive injuries, as well. Even as she watched, Kres'hast'antro's glowing eyes dimmed and went out.

_This is never going to work, _she realized as she watched the aliens pop out from behind the gun emplacements, fire a few shots at the Chiss warriors and then retreat into cover again. Another one lobbed a thermal grenade at her group, but after she sent it sailing back at them, the rest of aliens seemed to get the idea that explosives weren't such a good idea. _They're just going to sit here and pick us off slowly, one by one. As long as they can keep us pinned down, we're sitting ducks. We need to take back the initiative. _

"You, get Thisa on his feet," she called over her shoulder, jabbing her free hand towards the nearest warrior. "Get ready to move on my mark."

"Where?" he asked, ceasing his fire and kneeling to help Thisa up.

Chiara pointed towards the massive power grid at the center of the defensive array. "There. If we can get there, they won't be able to keep shooting at us without risking damaging the power conduits." _And we still have to take this grid down before Thrawn gets here, _she added to herself.

"We'll never make it that far," he objected, pulling Thisa to his feet.

"Do as she says," Thisa ordered, his voice strained as he leveled his charric at the nearest alien and fired. "She's our best chance of surviving long enough to complete our mission."

She nodded at him in appreciation of his trust and then did something she hadn't done in a very long time: Instead of relying on the defensive form of Soresu that she had adopted after the death of her first Padawan, she went on the offensive and switched to the more aggressive form of Shien that she had favored in her younger days. Even after 350 years, returning to the form felt like slipping on a comfortable pair of boots. She launched herself at the closest group of attackers, drawing their fire as she abandoned her protective stance over Thisa and the other Chiss warriors. Her blade hummed as she whipped it through the air, batting away the handful of blaster bolts that actually came close enough to be a threat. The aliens broke rank before her as she somersaulted through the air and into their midst, her lightsaber flashing out to cut one of them in half before she even touched the ground. They frantically tried to bring their weapons to bear as she went into motion, dancing and whirling between them, leaving death in her wake.

"Move!" she snapped to Thisa and his warriors. She didn't need to tell them twice. They sprinted across the newly opened ground toward the power grid, jumping over the alien bodies that littered the ground. Catching on to their plan, the remaining aliens unleashed a withering barrage of blasterfire, trying to cut them off from shelter. Chiara switched fluidly back to the more defensive Soresu form to safely shepherd the warriors across the open ground between them and the bunker. One of the warriors stumbled as he ran and took a blasterbolt between the shoulders. He pitched forward, dead before he hit the ground. Chiara gritted her teeth as she did her best to cover their retreat. The lead Chiss reached the power supply bunker and Chiara noted with some satisfaction that the blasterfire did indeed drop off as he entered its shadow.

Chiara waited until all four of the warriors reached the relative protection of the power grid. "Thisa, start laying charges. Thrawn will be here soon," she ordered as she went cut a path towards where the third group of warriors were clustered, their backs to one of the gun emplacements as they tried to hold off the advancing waves of the feline aliens.

"Alright, kids, time to go!" she called to them with a touch of dry humor as she cut a swathe through the enemy line that had separated them. They didn't need to be told twice. Breaking away from the scanty protection of their gun emplacement, they hurried towards her. Chiara held the enemy fire at bay in their brief moment of vulnerability as they crossed the open space to join Thisa and his warriors. _One group down, one to go, _she thought, focusing on the remnants of the Lieutenant's group of warriors. The two warriors who had been injured by the thermal grenades were either dead or unconscious and the other two were badly outnumbered, but she had no intention of abandoning them to the enemy fire.

Chiara went back on the offensive, whirling and dancing through the enemy ranks, wreaking havoc on their formation. They did their best to bring her down with concentrated blasterfire, but in such close quarters, every shot they fired was deflected into one of their comrades. She laughed in grim satisfaction as two of the aliens broke and ran as she approached. She was half way there when one of the aliens leaped down at her from the emplacement he had scaled. There was no way to halt her headlong sprint before she collided with him and the wicked-looking vibroaxe that he wielded, so she settled for leaping over him instead, doing a complete somersault as she passed over his head and striking with out with her ligthsaber. She heard the muffled thump of his body behind her as she landed and continued on towards her goal.

The aliens abruptly shifted their fire from her to the two Chiss that she was trying to reach. Chiara swore as one of them was cut down by the enemy fire and redoubled her pace, calling on the Force to help her leap over the enemy instead of pausing to deal with them. She completed one final flip and landed in front of the remaining warrior as a laser struck him in the calf and his legs buckled under him.

"Get up," she snapped at him as she tried to hold the withering hail of blasterfire at bay. To her relief, Thisa and his companions opened fire on the rear of the enemy ranks now that she was no longer darting through them, forcing their attackers to split their attention. The wounded warrior struggled to his feet and limped along behind her. Chiara hated leaving the two unconscious warriors, but the aliens seemed content to leave them alone now that they were out of the fight and she had no way to get them back to others without putting them and her in unnecessary danger.

"How long until the fleet gets here?" she asked Thisa when they rejoined the others and she resumed her defensive stance between them and the enemy line. The Chiss warriors picked off the enemy with deadly accuracy now that they didn't have to split their concentration between survival and attack.

"Less than two minutes," Thisa told her tightly, taking down another of the aliens with expert marksmanship, despite the pain he had to be in from his wound.

Chiara grimaced. "How long until the charges are ready?"

The demolitions expert straightened from where she had been attaching another charge to the base of the bunker. "They are ready, now," she said.

"Okay, people, let's move!" Chiara snapped, leading the way towards the aliens and away from the bunker. Once they were safe distance, the demolitions expert triggered the explosives. The roar of the explosion was almost deafening and the shock wave sent them all sprawling in the grass as bits of flaming debris rained down around them. One of the aliens screamed at them in some unintelligible language and charged, firing wildly at the prostrate warriors as he came. Chiara leaped to her feet and met him halfway, her lightsaber slicing through sinew and bone to cut him in half.

She risked a quick glance at her chrono as the warriors around her got to their feet, bringing their charrics to bear on the remaining attackers. Ten seconds. She heard the distant rumble of approaching transports bringing reinforcements and desperately hoped that Thrawn was right about the aliens shifting their attention to his forces once they dropped out of hyperspace. She doubted that their little group could hold out much longer. She counted down the seconds and gave a small sigh of relief as she reached zero. Somewhere above them, Thrawn would be dropping out of hyperspace and opening fire on the ships that remained in orbit.

Her relief quickly turned to horror as, with a cacophony of whirs and clanks, the gun emplacements swiveled towards space and filled the sky with their fire.


	37. Chapter 37

AN: Thank you for the follow and favorite, Cosara Peregringale! It's great to have you on board.

* * *

**Chapter 37**

"Status report," Thrawn called as they dropped out of hyperspace immediately above the planet.

"Sir, their fleet is located just ahead, as you had predicted. Sensors are picking up traces of a firefight on the ground at the defensive grid. _Whirlwind _and _Nightshade _are awaiting your orders," the sensors specialist told him.

Thrawn smiled tightly. "Order them to engage-" he broke off as a salvo of laser fire cut through space around them. One of the fighters just off their starboard bow exploded.

"Sir! The defense grid is still active!"

Thrawn swore under his breath and keyed his comlink. "All ships: evasive maneuvers. Get out of their line of fire."

"Shall I begin plotting a jump, sir?" the navigation officer asked nervously as a another cluster of laserfire shot past the bridge viewports.

"Begin plotting, but do not make the jump unless ordered, Lieutenant," Thrawn told him. What had happened to Chiara and Lieutenant Kres'hast'antro? The _Springhawk _rocked as a laserblast caught them square on the aft deflectors. _I have to give them more time,_ he thought. Hopefully, they had just gotten held up on the ground. He couldn't bring himself to consider the possibility that they had been killed or captured. "Helm, bring us around closer to the enemy ships and engage. Keep them between us and the planet so that they can't fire on us without risking hitting their own ships."

* * *

"Thisa! These things apparently have their own energy cells and the power grid is just for resupplying their power. Any idea how many shots these things can fire without recharging?" Chiara called over the din of the firing weapons.

He shook his head at her grimly as he continued to fire on the remaining alien attackers. "I don't know. Certainly enough to cause serious damage to our forces. Probably enough to destroy them entirely."

Chiara could see the approaching troop transports as they came over a ridge about a klik from their position. "See what you can do to slow them down, I'm going to try to find a way to disable these things." She flipped her lightsaber off and clipped it to her belt, then jumped straight up, landing lightly on the nearest gun emplacement. The sound of it going off at such close range was like a thunderclap. Ears ringing, she drew her lightsaber again and plunged it up to the hilt in the targeting electronics. The huge weapon stuttered and the barrel of the laser cannon drooped towards the ground.

Chiara jumped down and sprinted towards the next gun, repeating the process. One of the aliens realized belatedly what she was up to and fired at her. Chiara was so intent on making it to the next gun that she almost didn't react in time. The bolt grazed her torso, leaving a long burn across her ribs. She snarled in pain and kept moving, thinking only of the fact that if she didn't disable these guns, Thrawn would die.

* * *

"Captain, we've confirmed - three, make that four, of the guns have ceased firing," Thrawn's sensor officer told him.

Something must have gone wrong with the plan to destroy the power source. Still, if the guns were being taken down individually, at least that meant that some of their ground force was still alive. Despite the knot of dread in his stomach, Thrawn was willing to bet that Chiara was one of the ones still fighting, if she hadn't forgotten her promise to avoid any reckless behavior. There were nearly two dozen of the guns down there and it would take time for her to disable all off them, but at least they could avoid being destroyed for the next few minutes, they stood a reasonable chance of survival.

Thrawn tapped at his command board. "All vessels, the defensive grid is being disabled, but there seems to have been a delay. Continue with your assigned targets, but make sure to keep them between you and the surface. Fighters, attack pattern _virvib lio'cvotar_," he ordered.

The fighters were small and agile enough to be at little risk from the groundside weapons. They swarmed around the nearest capital ship, skimming bare meters above the hull. As with the ships that had attacked the base, the weapons blisters on these ships were so poorly designed that they could not fire without causing considerable damage to themselves. A squadron of fighters boiled out of the hangar bay to in answer to the Chiss clawcraft.

Another laser bolt from the ground canons sizzled past the bridge viewport. "Helm, take us closer," Thrawn ordered, hoping that Chiara wouldn't take too long to destroy the remaining weapons.

* * *

"Chiara?" Thisa called, the strain of his wound and the effort of the battle evident in his voice.

"I'm a little busy right now," Chiara called back, slashing at another of the defense canons. _Ten down, twelve to go. _There was no way she could disable all of them before the reinforcements arrived but she had to try. Instead of taking time to jump down from the emplacement she was currently perched on and then climbing back up another, Chiara took two running steps ad leaped toward the next one. Halfway through her arc, she realized she wasn't going to make it. She could almost hear Thrawn whisper "reckless!" in her ear as she slammed into the structure, the impact knocking the air out of her lungs. She managed to hook her elbows over the ledge and hung there for a moment, trying to catch her breath.

She pulled herself painfully up onto the canon, feeling certain she had broken a couple of ribs. Chiara made quick work of that canon before moving on to the next one. This time, she took the safer route and jumped down before sprinting to the next one and using the Force to augment her leap onto it.

She had made it through another five when the alien reinforcements arrived. With the power grid destroyed and Chiara wreaking havoc on their defensive gun emplacements, they aliens had no reason to hold back. They came in with weapons blazing, sending the Chiss scrambling for cover. Chiara ignored the weaponsfire that filled their air, focusing on taking down as many of the weapons down that she knew were pinning Thrawn down in the battle that raged overhead.

Thrawn had been right about one thing, Chiara noted: the response time and the disorganized behavior of the reinforcements definitely pointed to these aliens not being able to respond effectively on multiple attacks at once. _Five left._Out of the corner of her eye, Chiara saw another Chiss warrior fall to the overwhelming numbers of their attackers.

She leaped up onto another of the cannons, destroying the delicate targetting circuits with two swipes of her blade. The attackers were closing in on her and blaster bolts buzzed through the air around her like a swarm of angry insects. _Four more._ She stumbled and nearly fell as she leaped down and started racing towards her next target, distracted by the deaths she felt through the Force. _Please, don't let that be the Springhawk_, she thought desperately as she regained her footing and jumped atop the next weapons emplacement.

* * *

"Helm, get us behind another of their ships," Thrawn ordered tautly as the cruiser that the _Springhawk_ had been hiding behind and pummeling abruptly exploded.

"There are just three of the defensive lasers still functioning, Captain," the sensors officer told him and the _Springhawk _took refuge behind another enemy vessel.

"Excellent. Once the last one stops operating, join the _Nightshade _and the _Whirlwind,"_ Thrawn ordered. They had actually fared quite well so far, all things considered. It helped that two of the alien ships had been on the ground when the groundside team set off the explosives that had lined the hold of the captured vessel, taking the other two ships with it in a fiery death. Aside from the single clawcraft that had been lost immediately after they came out of hyperspace, they had been able to avoid further casualties. Using the enemy cruisers as shields against the base's defensive grid was severely limiting, though.

Still, even with their limited mobility, they had managed to destroy all of the enemy fighters and three of the heavy cruisers, so far. A fourth was beginning to vent atmosphere as the fighters swarmed over it, open it slowly to space.

"Sir, there is only one groundside weapon left," the sensor officer updated him.

"Prepare for attack pattern _bon'hah_," Thrawn said, suppressing a cold smile.

* * *

As Chiara jumped down from the second to last canon, she knew she would make it through the aliens who ringed in her final target. Taking a deep breath, she hurled her lightsaber at the final gun emplacement. It struck the canon, hilt first, and fell with a clatter into the structure. She raised her hands in a gesture of surrender as the aliens closed in around her.

"Put down your weapons," she called to Thisa and the three other remaining warriors. Thisa looked at her in shock. "Trust me, Thisa," she urged him. Slowly, he complied, dropping his charric on the ground and putting his hands behind his head. The other Chiss followed suit. The aliens herded them together not-so-gentle jabs from their blaster rifles. Chiara bit back a cry of pain as one of them poked her in the ribs with the muzzle of a blaster.

"I hope you have a plan," Thisa muttered, wincing as well as one of their captors prodded him in his wounded shoulder while the lone remaining weapons emplacement continued to thunder, spitting laser bolts up at Thrawn's ships.

Chiara gave Thisa a tense smile. "Watch and learn." Suddenly, a shaft of blue light appeared briefly inside barrel of the final laser turret just as the weapon fired again. What the aliens had failed to notice was that she had, in face, deliberately missed when she threw her lightsaber at the last canon. While they were distracted by herding Chiara and the Chiss soldiers into a cluster, she had used the Force to levitate the lightsaber into the air and slid it down the barrel of the massive gun. She had triggered the activation stud just as it began another firing sequence.

The blade must have hit a vital system, because instead of firing into space, the next shot exploded in all directions, blowing the entire structure into shrapnel. Chiara used the Force to call one of the discarded blasters to her hand and opened fire on the stunned and reeling aliens.

* * *

A few hours later, it was all over. Thrawn had decimated the enemy forces in relatively short order once he was no longer pinned down toy the defense grid. As an added bonus to Chiara and the warriors, the shock wave from the massive explosion that resulted from her unconventional destruction of the final canon had incapacitated most of the aliens. Apparently, they were quite sensitive to harmonic vibrations and the shock wave had irreparably damaged their delicate hearing, as well as their sense of balance, leaving them unable to stand.

The alien leaders had been quick to surrender to Thrawn once their fleet was destroyed. Thrawn had put down in the _Springhawk_ just outside the perimeter of the defensive grid to collect the remaining warriors and their wounded. Medic Chaf'alm'itrina had managed to save four of the six Chiss who were still alive when they were brought on board, leaving the total Chiss losses at seven lives.

When Chiara finally left the medbay after having her blaster burn treated, she headed straight for Forward Visual One, where she knew Thrawn would be waiting. Thrawn turned towards her as she entered and gave her a rare smile. She joined him by the viewport and looked out at the alien planet that slowly turned below them. Thrawn put his arms around her, holding her close.

"I'm glad you're okay," she murmured, resting her head against his shoulder.

He kissed her forehead. "From what the warriors tell me, you single-handedly saved the day."

She shrugged modestly. "I had help."

Thrawn's forehead wrinkled. "I also heard that your lightsaber was destroyed. What will you do without it? I can hardly see you fighting with any other weapon."

"I can make a new one," she assured him.

"That one had no small amount of sentimental value to you, though. Why ever did you sacrifice it?"

"It was either that or do something reckless to take out the last laser canon," she told him. "I seem to remember promising a certain someone that I wouldn't do anything reckless, so..."

"Well, I am glad that you remembered your promise, but I'm sorry that you had to give up your lightsaber to keep it," he told her.

"It's okay, really. That lightsaber served as a very valuable reminder to me at one point in my life, but I think I've carried the weight of the past for long enough. This is a whole new chapter in my life. I think it's time for me to have a lightsaber that reflects that and looks towards the future, rather than focusing on the failures in my past."

"And just what does that future look like?" Thrawn asked, brushing a stray piece of hair back from her cheek.

"I'm not quite sure, but as long as you art part of it, I will gladly accept whatever the future chooses to throw at me," she told him.

"Whatever it chooses to throw at _us_," Thrawn corrected.


	38. Epilogue

AN: Thank you so much for reading, guys! I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I do have a sequel up my sleeve, so please make sure you follow me so you don't miss it. I was thinking I was going to wait a bit to start it, but I'm so depressed at the thought of not spending time with these two every day that I think I'm going to have to just go ahead and get started on the next story ASAP.

* * *

**Epilogue**

The next day, Admiral Ar'alani arrived to officially accept the surrender of the aliens, whom they now knew were called Eeleme, and to oversee the disarming and disbanding of their military as part of the terms of their surrender, as well as to facilitate the return of the Eeleme prisoners that were currently being held on the Chiss base. Chiara noted that the Admiral had finally begun treating her with a hint of respect, most likely as a result of the pivotal role she had played in the success of Thrawn's attack. She finally seemed to have resigned herself to the fact that Thrawn and Chiara were together.

It came as quite a surprise to everyone involved when the Admiral came aboard to the _Springhawk_ late in the day and presented Thrawn with a commendation for his quick thinking duuring the attack on the base, which had saved countless lives, and for his initiative in taking the fight to Eeleme in a brief ceremony on the bridge. After presenting him with a medal, she ceremoniously pinned two silver rank insignias to his collar and also promoted him to the rank of Force Commander.

She warned them privately not to expect any further promotions and told them that Thrawn had only received this one because she had left out the fact that he had taken an outsider under his protection out of her reports, thus far. It wouldn't take long for High Command to hear of it from other sources, but once he was promoted, they could hardly strip him of his rank simply for being attached to a non-Chiss. She ordered Thrawn to return to the base to oversee the reconstruction efforts, but warned him not to get too comfortable there, saying that she suspected he would receive a new assignment in the near future.

As the _Springhawk _flew through hyperspace on the way back to the base, Chiara stood behind Thrawn's command chair and her mind went back to the vision from the Force that she had had some weeks before. She smiled as they dropped out of hyperspace over the base, knowing that this moment was the fulfillment of that vision.


End file.
